War Fighters Are Home Truth About Caregivers Va

Booney, I just wanted to thank you from all of us in the caregiver community for acknowledging us and what we're doing. I don't know what you come to do, but I come to speak the truth. My name is Boone Cutler. This is Tipping Point with Boone Cutler. And the reason I'm here, the reason I'm talking to you right here, right now, is for the warfighter perspective. Because you see in America, when people want to find out what the warfighter has to say, they're going to stand up a guy like Ollie North, maybe some retired general. And he's going to get his two, three minutes of fame right there on one of the major networks. And then it's a done deal. national, international issues, maybe social issues about the warfighter. And that's done. That's all we get. Well, now the wars are winding down. Some will even say they're over. Me, I say it's a transition. The American warfighter is coming home. We are infusing ourselves in your community. And there's two messages here. To the warfighter, I say, do not assimilate. Do not assimilate into a civilian populace. Be the warfighter you are without battle mind. Stay together. Do not assimilate. And to the civilian community, I say, respect us. Respect us. Understand us. Get to know us because we're not going anywhere. And by the way, we are the leadership community of this country. We are the descendants of Sparta. We are the Samurai Society right here amongst you. We live a life of honor. We are here to lead, so stand by. On today's show, we're gonna talk about caregivers. Because out of the 2.4 million who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, 25% of us have disabilities. I happen to be one of those guys. And why is the caregiver issue such an important issue of impact within the warfighter community? For two reasons. One, the warfighter is empowered. The warfighter gets to choose who is taking care of them on a daily basis. Someone they trust and the VA can compensate them for that. The other issue is if you're already taking care of a warfighter, you're one of those loyal spouses, you're one of those loyal moms, maybe you're a husband, someone who cares, putting your life on hold, maybe you can't work full time anymore. There's a program for you. Here we go. Whoa. This is Lars Larson on Fox News Radio, and right now you're listening to Tipping Point with author, warfighter Boone Cutler. And we are back. This is Tipping Point, Boone Cutler, KKFT 99.1, Fox News Radio, Northern Nevada's number one FM talk station. Without further ado, I've got to tell you, one of the most exciting things happening in the VA right now, as I was talking about the opening part, the opening section of the show, is the caregiver program. If I have to give them credit for something, it's going to be the caregiver program at the Veterans Administration because the program itself links up the warfighter with assistance in their own home, making them functional, making quality of life 100% better. Without further ado, the guy who really knows the ins and outs of the entire program, Byron Parks of the Sierra Nevada Healthcare System, he is the caregiver support coordinator. Byron, did I get that right? You got it. You nailed it. Outstanding, brother. Okay. Now what the audience is going to want to know, especially our veterans out there, maybe not from the current war, maybe the folks out there that have been off active duty for a little bit, maybe a spouse out there, and they know that they're not getting along so well and they need some assistance in the home. What is the caregiver program? Just in a nutshell, what is the caregiver program? Well, you're talking mostly referencing here the comprehensive caregiver program aspect of the caregiver program. So let me address that first. The comprehensive program consists of veterans applying to request a caregiver support person in their home. And that can be somebody that's usually a family member, but it can also be a friend or someone else that is willing to commit to that obligation and that support to the veteran long term.