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Terry Martin - June 28, 2024
You’re a veteran, right?
I served in the Navy for ten years and then spent an additional 12 years in the Air National Guard. It was an interesting and rewarding experience, and I enjoyed it. I never had to fight any, except for the occasional bar fight. I am also a Vietnam veteran, but we flew patrol missions off the coast. We were not actually in Vietnam.
What do you do now?
One of the things I do is volunteer at the Veterans Landing. We do a lot of things, but the quick overview is that we're here to help veterans get benefits and supply their needs. Sometimes, we help with transportation to and from dentists and doctors’ appointments, give some toiletry items to veterans, or give a few food items and some clothing. If veterans don't have a place to go for the day, they can come in and sit down and visit with us. While they visit, we can give them snacks and drinks. Sometimes, I'll supply them with a cup of coffee, or I might even fix them a sandwich if they're here over lunch. We don’t do this often, but if a veteran comes in asking for help to pay rent, we will do that, too. Another gentleman from the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs comes in two days a month, the second and the fourth Wednesdays of the month, and he helps veterans put in for their benefits, fill out the paperwork stuff for their benefits, and then apply for their benefits.
What is volunteering at the Veterans Landing like?
It's a little boring. There's really nothing hard about it except staying awake. We don't have any employees. Everybody here is a volunteer, so we volunteer our time.
What’s been the hardest part of your life?
Hardest part of my life? Raising two kids. But, you know, I can't really complain about anything in life. As far as anything that's been hard, I can't say. Well, I mean, I think the hardest part is just making a living.
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