REDMOND, OR -- The head of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs heard many concerns from local vets during a stop at the Redmond VFW on Friday. Fred Beebee, a Vietnam War Veteran, traveled from Madras to tell Director Cameron Smith that he's concerned about losing a counselor who served his PTSD group. "We did lose our counselor two to three months ago when he was transferred to Portland. We want to get someone else in there because they did a lot of good for a lot of veterans." Beebee says the group continues to meet every Thursday to offer support to each other until another counselor can be brought in. 

Fellow Vietnam Veteran Joe Russo of Crooked River Ranch brought up concerns about living east of the Cascades and how challenging it is to travel to the V.A. Hospital in Portland. "Whey they make cuts in funding, do they take into consideration this side of the mountain? They turn around and it's nice they give us travel money, but for a few dollars more, we wouldn't have to do all that traveling." The new V.A. Choice Program was supposed to offer vets an opportunity to see a local doctor if they live too far from a V.A. health center. However, Director Smith admitted too many are still forced to travel over the mountain because they are closer than 40 miles to a veterans clinic, even if the clinic doesn't offer the services they need.

Tom Weiss is the Veterans Services officer for Jefferson County. For 10 years he has helped vets navigate the system and get services. "I think here in the state we'll make progress. I think we have a good leader in Director Smith; he's young and has a lot of good ideas. As far as the federal system? I don't know." He adds, "This problem has been around for a very long time, and I know it's money driven. I think the state will work through them, we always have. It's just things are changing so fast and the problems are new every day."