Last week I wrote that a Veteran does not have a particular look. This week, I want to remove another measuring stick we sometimes use: comparing one person’s military service to another’s.
Military careers are remarkably different. One person may have spent years in an infantry unit and deployed repeatedly. Another repaired aircraft, processed payroll, drove trucks, worked in communications, provided medical care, or guarded a stateside installation. Some served during major conflicts without deploying. Others deployed but never saw combat. National Guard and Reserve members may have a mixture of state duty, federal active duty, training periods, and deployments.
All of those jobs mattered to the military mission. The person delivering ammunition needed someone ordering it, transporting it, maintaining the vehicle, processing everyone’s pay, feeding the unit, providing medical support, and keeping communications working. Even Marines need somebody to keep track of the crayons.
Respect for military service should not require comparing duty stations, job titles, medals, deployment histories, or generations. Nobody needs to win a contest to have served honorably.
Veterans benefits, however, are different from recognition of service. Each program has its own eligibility requirements. Federal and state laws may consider the type of service, dates served, active-duty status, discharge characterization, disability, income, residency, deployment location, or other factors. National Guard and Reserve service is a good example: certain periods of service may qualify for one benefit but not another.
That distinction is important. Saying “service is service” does not mean every military record produces identical benefits. It means we should respect the service while allowing the appropriate agency to apply the law.
Your County Veterans Service Officer can review military records, discuss possible programs, help gather supporting information, and assist with applications. We generally do not make the final eligibility decision. Sometimes the only reliable way to determine whether a benefit applies is to submit the application and let the governing authority decide.
As Veterans Day approaches, remember that our military has always depended on people performing thousands of different jobs in many different places. The uniform may have been the same color, but the experiences underneath it were not.
Different service does not mean lesser service.
Brad Anderson and Melissa Crandall are the Lake County Veterans Service Officers and can be reached at 218.834.8326 or Vets@LakeCountyMN.gov
Karen Christianson is the Cook County Veterans Service Officer and can be reached at 218.387.3639, or karen.christianson@cookcountymn.gov
