John Bennett, Marketing Representative 2, Northeast Louisiana Veterans Home, Louisiana Department of Veteran Affairs spoke to the Kiwanis club, Tuesday, April 22. He was raised in Spearsville, LA.

He is U.S. Army, Chaplain Corps, Vietnam Combat Veteran and also U.S. Coast Guard Yeoman Career Field and Paralegal and a graduate of Northeast Louisiana University. The Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veteran Affairs is Col. Carlton McGinley. 

Winn Parish has 1,000 veterans which is a high percentage for a parish of middle to older size. In Louisiana there are 261, 000 veterans. Southern states have more veterans because they seem to serve more. There is the federal VA and each state has a VA. The state VAs help veterans to get benefits from the federal VA. Veterans have earned their benefits and should apply for them. 

Fort Johnson, formerly Fort Polk, is still an active base. Barksdale was established in 1918 and is still going strong. 

Bennett became a chaplain in the Army first and they do combat training just like all the soldiers. Instead of being sent to Fort Sill in Oklahoma after training he was sent to Vietnam with the Green Berets. 

His job now is based at the Veterans Home in Monroe. He does marketing for VA Nursing Homes. If the reason a veteran needs to go to a nursing home is 70% service-connected then that individuals pays nothing. If it is less than 70% service connected then the veteran pays less than standard rates. 

Louisiana has five state VA nursing homes. There are also five VA cemeteries where a veteran can be buried without paying anything. Every veteran should have a Veterans Health ID card which can get them treatment anywhere without a charge to them. The Pineville VA hospital is one of the oldest in the nation and there is no talk of closing it. 

There are state benefits as well as federal benefits for veterans. Many veterans are unaware of all the benefits that are available and therefore do not take advantage of them. 

Information can be accessed at www.vetaffairs.la.gov or contact him at JOHN.BENNETT2@LA.GOV.