Local veterans service officer, Duane Todd, assists veterans

Duane Todd of Imperial is the Veteran Service Officer (VSO) serving military veterans and their families in the greater Chase county area. The VSO is the local liaison between veterans and the Veterans Administration (VA), he said.
Honorably discharged veterans are entitled to the various benefits offered through the VA once they are of civilian status. The VA is a stand alone government entity, not a part of the Department of Defense, he said. In 2021 the VA spent three million dollars in Nebraska aiding veterans in disabilities, he said.
When a service member is separated into civilian status his discharge papers are in a form called the DD 214, which identifies a level of status the member is entitled to, he said. The DD 214 is an important document and when service members are discharged they are encouraged to register it with their home county and otherwise safeguard it. However, if it becomes lost it can be reconstructed through records. Even the records of World War Two veterans is available on microfiche, he said.
Often when service members are discharged and come home they don’t think about the VA and what they can do for them.
There are VA hospitals throughout the country and in the rural areas the VA has care in the community where patients are assigned local doctors and clinics that are VA approved, he said.
The VA care is broken into three categories, benefits, health and cemetery. The VSO facilitates the administrative component helping members navigate the system, he said. The benefits category deals with identifying service related injuries that may result in disability claims.
The health category involves the level of ongoing healthcare a member will receive, he said. As with other community care if applicable, an initial visit may be conducted at a satellite facility instead of a VA hospital, he said.
The cemetery category concerns veterans burials. There is a lot involved with that including military honors, individual’s flags, and bronze markers, among other things, he said.
The VA is a government bureaucratic system, but with the recent enactment of the PACT Act, the presumption of certain diseases is sped up, for examples, Agent Orange and its effects on Vietnam vets, or burn pits with Desert Storm vets, he said.
Todd graduated from Chase County High School in 1969. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1971 and was honorably discharged in 1975. He served a one year tour in Vietnam on the USS Providence. For two years after high school he worked for the Imperial Republican newspaper working with the linotype machine. He is an active member of the local VFW. He has been the local VSO for over twenty years.
Veterans should be aware of the many VA benefits they are entitled to. Veterans are encouraged to stop by the office in the Chase County Building if for nothing else, to have a visit, he said. The office is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, he said.