Repaying the debt: Veterans in Morgan City learn about available services

Ronald Campo lives in Belle River now. But from 1970-72, his address was Vietnam.
Campo said he didn’t especially want to go to the war that divided Americans so bitterly. But he went, and he fought. Coming home, he fought in a different way, rearranging some teeth after he heard the question “How many people did you kill?”
“Lots of people didn’t want to go,” Campo said Monday. “But we wanted to serve our country.”
Campo was at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium to learn more about how the country is repaying the debt. U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Port Barre and St. Mary’s representative in Congress, hosted a clinic that brought together officials from state and federal veterans agencies.
An average of about 2,400 veterans lived in St. Mary Parish from 2013-17, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Another 2,200 veterans live in St. Martin Parish, and about 1,100 live in Assumption.
Campo came home with problems he doesn’t like to talk about.
“Lots of anger,” said Margaret Campo, his wife of 47 years.
“It’s been tough,” Campo said. “Veterans have always been treated like nothing. You don’t get the recognition you should have.”
That’s especially true for disabled veterans, Campo said.
Campo wasn’t happy about conditions he found at a stateside veterans facility in 1980, when he went to visit an uncle who was dying.
“It was basically an old folks home,” Campo said. “People were just lying around like they were waiting to die.”
More recent experiences have been better. Campo said he needed a specific kind of monitor to track his macular degeneration, a chronic condition affecting 10 million Americans and threatening their vision. After hitting some roadblocks, the Campos sent a letter to President Donald Trump.
Within a couple of days, a monitor became available.
“Maybe things are getting better,” Margaret Campo said.
About 30 veterans and family members were on hand for Morgan City event’s 11 a.m. start Monday.
“Next year,” Higgins told the audience, “when we come to Morgan City, the room will be full as the word gets out.”
The congressman, like Campo, is an Army veteran, although Higgins, 57 now, was too young for Vietnam. He was a military policeman who served in Panama.
The goal is to have a veterans clinic some-where in the 3rd Congressional District, which stretches west from St. Martin, St. Mary and Iberia to the Texas border, every 60 days.
“Many veterans just walk away,” Higgins told the audience. “They give up. They beat their heads against the largest bureaucracy in the world.”
The moving clinics are designed to help overcome one of the challenges veterans face: transportation.
Veterans may be eligible for a variety of benefits ranging from a break on hunting and fishing licenses to pensions and health care. The agencies taking part in Monday’s clinic were:
—The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, which publishes an 86-page guide to state and federal veterans re-sources. You can download a .pdf version at http://www.AGJeffLandry.com or from a link accompanying this story at http://StMaryNow.com.
—The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Veterans Health Administration were represented. Learn more at http://www.va.gov.
—The Louisiana Workforce Commission offers help with locating jobs and retraining. Go to http://www.laworks.net/Work-forceDev/VeteransServices/Vet_Main.asp