Veterans Benefit Fair held in Tomah

Tomah VA hosts event to help veterans find services they need

TOMAH, Wis. (WKBT) — Area veterans are learning more about benefits they earned while serving their country.

The Tomah Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center hosted a Veterans Benefit Fair Wednesday in Tomah.

Veterans were able to learn about all the different programs and services out there to make their life a little bit easier. Often times veterans are unaware of what kind of help is out there and the benefits fair hopes to provide them with the services they are looking for.

“Tomah is a big place for the VA and there is a lot of veterans in the area, so we figured a fair would really help bring in some of our veterans and let them know what exactly is available to them,” said Tomah VA Benefits Fair Coordinator Lindsey Dietzman.

Despite recent trouble with delays at other VAs around the country Tomah’s VA said they work very hard to make sure every veteran is getting the help they need.

“Here in Tomah we get an application in and within 3 or 4 days we have it processed and trying to call veterans to get them enrolled and get them in for healthcare. We don’t have a long wait time and you know we try to get through as quickly as possible,” said Tammy Worzalla, of the Tomah VA Medical Center.

But vets like Robert Gaunky didn’t make it to the fair Wednesday because he didn’t know it was going on.

Guanky is a Navy vet that served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, who makes use of benefits like school reimbursement and medical care.

The fact that he didn’t know about the fair doesn’t surprise him because often times a lack of communication can keep a veteran from receiving the benefits they need. “I think they need to streamline their information database, I think they need to streamline their training and their staff, but I think the biggest thing is that the veterans, speaking from personal experience, I’m not a number, I’m a human being, I’m someone who went and served my country,” said Gaunky.

If you’re a veteran and looking for more information about services or program offered by the Tomah VA head to their website at www.tomah.va.gov.