Whether they’ve served four years or 40 years, veterans are entitled to benefits through the Veterans Administration. But many veterans, if not most of them, do not even apply for those benefits, says Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Keith M. Huber, senior advisor for Veterans and Leaderships Initiatives at Middle Tennessee State University, in Aging With Honor. This latest documentary in Nashville PBS’ Aging Matters series premieres on-air Thursday, May 22, at 8 p.m. and will be followed by a panel discussion on related topics at 8:30 p.m.
Additional airtimes for Aging With Honor are Monday, May 26, at 9 p.m. on WNPT; and Saturday, May 31, at 5 p.m. and Sunday, June 1, at 1 p.m. on WNPT2 World Channel.
Aging With Honor features several veterans sharing their stories of military service and how they came to need, understand and access benefits. In keeping with their legacy of service, once they master navigating the system, many seek to help others find the tools and information they need. “That’s why I became a VSO [Veteran Service Officer], because I didn’t want anybody to go through what I’ve been going through for the past 30 years,” Air Force veteran Scott Dozier says in the film.
Organizations represented in Aging With Honor include the Tennessee Department of Veteran Services (TDVS); Tennessee Veterans Organization (TNVET); VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System; the Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center; Montgomery County Veterans Coalition; Tri-Star Veterans Resource Center (TSVRC); Project Healing Waters, Murfreesboro; and Middle Tennessee Veterans Coalition.
There are 440,000 veterans in Tennessee, according to the state’s department of Veterans Services. Getting information to those men and women is a challenge, especially when some of that population don’t necessarily identify as veterans. Mary Ross, a retired Sgt. First Class, says this was certainly the case for women even 30 years ago when she left the U.S. Army. “A lot of women experience PTSD while serving in the military, not because of the combat that we saw, but by other things,” Ross says in Aging With Honor. “PTSD tends to take over when they don’t have an opportunity to look at the feelings and thoughts that they experienced,” she adds.
Maintaining or replicating the close bonds formed during military service is essential not only to well-being, but also to finding information and resources, says Keith R. Prather, MSW, chairman & CEO, Tri-Star Veterans Resource Center. “We became a functional place where veterans can come and get a sense of community,” Prather says of his Murfreesboro-based organization.
Aging With Honor was produced by Suzy Hence, senior producer at Nashville PBS. The documentary will be available to watch any time at online, on YouTube and on the PBS app.