Research by Delaware’s Department of Veterans Affairs indicates that fewer than 40 percent of veterans residing in Delaware are registered with the Veterans Administration.

 Many believe because they’ve never had a physical or psychological problem associated with their past service, they don’t need to the connected to the organization that could help them and their families with conditions relating to their past service.

This applies to senior veterans as well as to recently discharged veterans. Some will say they don’t want to ask for assistance because it will take away from those who followed them in service.

Just opposite is true. The Federal government sets aside funding for members for a broadening number of injuries associated with their service, including physical and psychological injuries associated with every conflict.

They can include hostile fire, training accidents, equipment malfunction or failure, exposure to chemicals, tainted water, radiation, post-traumatic stress, sexual abuse and other health related events associated with service that affect the member’s quality and length of life.

The bottom line is that we are all a team, regardless of generation of service, branches, or conflicts, whether we served boots on the ground, in hostile areas or stateside specializing in support of our comrades.

The Delaware Veterans Coalition, registered lobbyists, has focused on those things since 2011 and will continue to do so through facilitating contact among veterans organizations through their leaders on the Commission of Veterans Affairs and the Office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs as requested or needed.