00:0094.7 WCSX, Big Jim's house. We are live in the parking lot. Hi, everybody!
00:05You can make noise. It's radio. We have to cheer. Let everyone know we're here.
00:08Big Jim, there's Ryan Logan to my left and then to my left-left.
00:11A fellow sailor, Brian Hayes.
00:13Brian is the communication director for VA Ann Arbor Health Care System.
00:16Yeah.
00:17And you guys have been part of this in your support for the Stone Sioux Project and helping out veterans.
00:22We really do appreciate it.
00:23Well, we appreciate what you're doing here. It's fabulous.
00:26And I heard your interview with the folks from Vets Returning Home.
00:30Sandy, right there.
00:31Sandy, you were fabulous. Thank you. Yeah, what you do is great.
00:34You know, VA, one of our big missions is ending veteran homelessness.
00:38And so we have huge programs for veteran homelessness.
00:41But, you know, the government can do so much.
00:43And it takes those grassroots efforts like what you guys do to really, really take care of it.
00:47Well, and things are changing as a veteran.
00:50We're always trying to find out what benefits and what access we have to stuff.
00:53And there's so much going on right now.
00:55Oh, my goodness.
00:55Right? I mean, this is definitely a time to reach out to the VA and find out what am I eligible for
00:59and what can and can't you guys do because there's a lot going on.
01:02That is so true, especially with, you know, the last few weeks with the passage of the PACT Act.
01:06The president signed that into law, I think, about three weeks ago.
01:10And so that's all gearing up and we're getting that tooled.
01:12Tons of benefits in that package for veterans.
01:15There's a lot of stuff in there.
01:16But, you know, the best way to go find out what all that is is just go to va.gov slash PACT, P-A-C-T.
01:22They've done a really nice job of building a website that really explains all of those benefits.
01:27And so we're encouraging veterans to get those applications in now for those benefits and also reapply for health care if you haven't already.
01:35Apply or reapply if you've been turned down for whatever reason.
01:37Now's the time to get it done.
01:39Really?
01:39Yeah.
01:40Okay.
01:40Because the other thing, too, I know we have new VA clinics that are popping up all over Southeast Michigan.
01:44Oh, my goodness.
01:45Yeah.
01:45So just this year we're bringing on three new clinics because we're putting clinics where the veterans are.
01:50Where veterans are, we want them to come and see us.
01:51Which is what we've always wanted to hear.
01:52Absolutely.
01:53So we've got a brand new clinic that just opened in May in Canton.
01:57We opened a clinic in Adrian about eight months ago.
02:01Okay.
02:01And we're going to open one in Howell next month.
02:04Nice.
02:04Yeah.
02:05Nice.
02:05Now, for those of you who don't know, Brian Hayes, our buddy, communication director of VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, you were in the Navy how many years?
02:12It was about 1,000 years ago.
02:14Come on.
02:15It wasn't made of stone or something.
02:16No, no, no, no.
02:17It was 88 to 93.
02:19Okay.
02:20Yeah.
02:21I'm sorry.
02:22What ship were you on?
02:23You put a boat on a ship.
02:24Yeah.
02:25I'm sorry.
02:25You were on a submarine, guys.
02:28You're on a target.
02:29No.
02:30It was a USS Warden, guided missile cruiser.
02:32I was an air controller.
02:32We had this stat, that 0.5%, that's one half of 1% of Americans are veterans.
02:39Right.
02:39I would love to find out what that percentage is here in the Motor City.
02:42Because you think about over generations that, like, after World War II, how many Americans came here?
02:47You know, the middle class and stuff.
02:49And over the years, we learned time and time again, looking at this Bronco to my right, when you see these are generations of men and women.
02:55That's right.
02:55You know, it's just one of those things that you do.
02:57And I'm sure you run into the same thing.
02:59Well, sure, just personally, I've got veterans in my family back to the Revolutionary War.
03:03You know, we could track them all the way back.
03:04Wow.
03:05But, you know, I can't quote the statistic perfectly, but we do have a lot of veterans in Michigan.
03:10Michigan is a big kind of veteran population.
03:12I want to say 600,000, something like that.
03:15Really?
03:16Yeah.
03:16That's kind of off the top of my head.
03:18But, yeah, we have a lot of veterans.
03:19And, you know, a lot of them need to come in and get signed up and get care.
03:23Well, Brian, we appreciate everything you guys have done and being part of the Stone Soup Project this year, the Stone Soup Bronco, helping out vets returning home.
03:29It's so cool talking to the VA about what we can do to help out veterans.
03:32And I'm looking at Sandy to my right, and we just had you on talking about what we can do to help out men and women veterans here in the Motor City as well.
03:37And God bless all of you.
03:39Thank you so much.
03:39And please tell everybody there, VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, on behalf of everyone at CSX and Beasley Media, just thank you.
03:45We're live, literally in the parking lot next to the Stone Soup Bronco.
