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VALLEY — American Legion Post 67 will be hosting a Day for Veterans on Saturday, February 11th at Valley Community Center. It will be taking place from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, and all veterans are welcome to come and ask questions about their benefits and other problems and concerns they may have.

“I’m running into veterans all the time,” said Post Commander Lanny Bledsoe. “Many of them may not be receiving all the benefits that have earned with their military service, and they don’t know who to turn to. In many cases, their wives and family members don’t know how they can contact anyone for assistance.”

Members of Post 67 will be at the Community Center on the second Saturday morning of the month to meet with veterans. Right now, they are getting contact information to let people know when they will have representative of the VA at the Community Center to discuss their concerns one-on-one.

“In June, we will have people from Opelika and Tuskegee here to talk to them,” said Post Adjutant Sammy Newton. “We are trying to get the word out about that.”

“Dealing with the VA is not a simple matter,” Bledsoe said. “We just feel that any veteran who honorably served out country is entitled to receive every benefit they have earned. If we can help people be treated right we want to do that.”

According to the 2021 U.S. Census, there is an estimated 18 million veterans, or around 6.4 percent of the total U.S. population.

An estimated 2.5 million have served since 9/11, an estimated 80 percent of them serving in a combat zone.

Numerous studies show that many veterans are missing out on the benefits they have earned. There is an ongoing effort to expand health care, home loan and other veteran benefits. Unfortunately, many deserving people are missing out on them. Common reasons include confusion about who can file for benefits, giving up on claims, difficulty with application issues, understanding how to appeal, concerns with legal rights and confusing Social Security benefits with VA benefits.

Post 67 wants to help any local veteran who may be struggling with any of this. Right now they just want local veterans to understand they want them to be at the Day for the Veterans in June when VA representatives will be there to talk to them.