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Veterans Services chief: Despite quarantines, help is available remotely

The Daily Star - 3/26/2020

Mar. 26--The measures taken locally to stop the spread of the coronavirus may have his office shuttered, but Otsego County's acting director of Veterans Services, Sid Loeffler, said he wants the county's veterans to know he is still working to help them.

"You can put my cell phone number in the paper," Loeffler said during a phone interview Tuesday, March 24. "It is 716-207-1886, and they are welcome to call me."

Loeffler, who served in the Marine Corps in 1974 and 1975, said he is in his second stint helping his fellow veterans get help from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs. He was also an acting director for a similar department in Schuyler County in the 1990s and was hired by Otsego County to work as a veterans service officer in 2016.

When Jack Henson retired as Otsego County's director of veterans services in 2018, he was replaced by Dennis Clark, but Clark then left for a year-long military deployment and Loeffler became the acting director. Clark returned this winter, but resigned from his county job, leaving Loeffler to continue his acting position.

Loeffler said he intends to apply to take acting out of his title, but the job has not been listed by the county, yet. In the meantime, he wants veterans to know he is working from home, processing claims and coordinating other help for the county's veterans, including many of them who are senior citizens.

"Many of the younger vets are internet savvy," he said. "They know how to file online for what they are now calling e-benefits, and they can do that for themselves without my help.

"Most of the veterans I work with -- I just turned 65 a month ago -- and most of the veterans I work with are older than me."

Loeffler said a large number of claims he files are for soldiers who were exposed to Agent Orange, and he gets frustrated with the slow pace of response from the VA. However, in February, Otsego County approved the purchase and use of a new VA-approved software, VetraSpec, which helps him file forms more quickly and submit them online. It also helps with tracking claims.

"My job, from my perspective, I feel this with all my heart, is to get veterans the help they need," he said. "Our philosophy is to get veterans the maximum benefits in the minimum amount of time."

Still, the pandemic has changed the way the county is helping, he said. The weekly van that shuttles veterans from Otsego County to the VA hospital in Albany has been canceled the past two weeks, and will only run for emergencies, such as for cancer treatments and dialysis patients. The van carries 12 people, Loeffler said, so a full vehicle would violate the state mandate against more than 10 people congregating together.

Loeffler's office at the Meadows complex in the town of Middlefield is also temporarily closed.

"Our clients are mostly older, they are aware of the news," he said. "They know ... it is dangerous for them to come into our office right now."

But, "I am checking my messages everyday. I am checking my emails. I am still helping people. I am just doing it from home," he said.

Greg Klein, staff writer, can be reached at gklein@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7218.

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