MINUTES for 2019-08-27 FINAL - Laserfiche WebLink

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Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes August 27,2019 Page 13 Lewis: Ok, in the blue water that's just going to get more you said you had about 15 or more cases waiting as they start releasing the ships log which will Fuata: Well, this is worldwide. With the blue water they came up with a stipulation on House Resolution 299 that they would consider Navy veterans as similar to boots on ground if the ship was docked within 12 miles from shore. Well now, we have surviving spouse trying to find the ship name and if they find the ship name they're trying to find who is the point of contact for the ship log to get to validate that their husband was on this ship that was docked within 12 miles. So, it's between the Department of Navy, Department of Defense, and National Archives and Records Administration. We've been trying to uncover. It's a work in progress but this is not one just exclusive to Hawai`i but all veterans that it affects, all blue water veterans and their spouses. I've been working with National on that, it's a challenge. I think we may be getting close; I don't know. It's a work in progress let's say that. Lewis: Ok, thank you. Any questions? Chair Doolittle: Are there any veterans services officers on the Kona side? Fuata: No, I was the first one they trained besides Maria who is in Samoa, outside of Honolulu. Lewis: Well they used to have DAV correct? Fuata: (inaudible) Chair Doolittle: In the entire County, you're the only one that's trained? Fuata: Yes. Wery: No, ok. Bob Montague was not certified, never was certified, didn't want to be certified. The advantage of that, is that there was no Power of Attorney. If I went to Bob Montague, he took care of everything, there was a problem I could go to someone else. Once you go to, as an example, to Fuata, there's Power of Attorney, I can't go to anyone else. I'm stuck with VFW or whoever that department is DAV. By Bob Montague not being certified, he was just as good, better than all the rest of them because he had a couple thousand people that he took care of, we were better off. What he would do is, he did everything. He gives you the paperwork, you sign it, he gives you the envelope you put it in the mailbox. If they declined it, you went back to him and he appealed it. But the benefit that was there, there was no Power of Attorney, so you had more options. Now Alan is in the same circumstances as Bob Montague, he's not certified. But he's learned from Bob Montague and he's pretty good at it. When we say certified, we have more than one service officer here.