BROOKNEAL, Va. – A Brookneal mom of four Marines is sharing her story for the first time in hopes of getting help for Veterans.
This month marks the anniversary of her son’s tragic accident and the beginning of her unexpected journey to make sure no heroes fall through the crack.
“I’m very proud of my boys. It was hard having all of them go off at one time,” Lynn Tucker says. “It was very difficult when they were in Iraq. At the same time, they were in Iraq, Ben was hurt.”
Her oldest son, Ben, joined the Marines in 2004. He was just 21 years old when a four-wheeler crash ended with a Military discharge and a permanent brain injury.
“I would describe the beginning of this situation as being shell-shocked,” Tucker says. “When Ben finally made it to the VA and we could put him in a wheelchair, I went from office to office trying to figure out what I was supposed to do.”
Little did she know she’d spend the next 16 years asking the same question. Tucker has been fighting to get her son the care he needs every day.
She has been told “no” many times by the VA, but she’s never taken it for an answer. She continues to press on calling Congressmen, something many vets and their families don’t do.
“There are veterans out there that are elderly and their wife is trying to take care of them. They say no to them and they hang up the phone,” she says. “It’s like, what do we do? They’re not willing to go beyond that first ‘no.’”
She says taking care of Ben is not where her stress comes from. It’s the stress of knowing he’s not the only Veteran out there struggling to get help from the VA.
“Of all the veterans that really need VA assistance, only 30% of them really get it,” Tom Current says. “There’s about 70% out there that either don’t know or haven’t tried.”
Current is the President of the Lynchburg Area Veterans’ Council. He started the non-profit 10 years ago when a disabled vet couldn’t get to the hospital for care.
“Many of them fought and died for the freedom we have,” he says. “They should be getting a priority in our culture for help they need. Some of them are not getting it.”
Current and Tucker say there’s no magic wand to wave and fix the system. However, they hope in sharing their stories that they can raise awareness and come closer to getting Veterans what they deserve.
“Ben is so limited in what he can do with the brain injury,” Tucker says. “One thing he can do is eat pizza and a hamburger. I want my son for as long as he can to take a bite of pizza and eat a hamburger. He can’t go out, he can’t get married, he can’t have children.”
Tucker adds she’ll continue the fight to break down barriers to health care so that someday others won’t have to.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, you can call the Lynchburg Area Veterans’ Council at 434-329-0039.