Honoring veterans year-round at Arlington

On the day Sue Slusher married her husband, he was drafted.  
 
“He left 16 days later—he had orders for Vietnam, and they were changed at the last minute, so he went to Germany for a year,” Slusher says. “I did join him there, so I feel pretty much like I was drafted. That was 1966, and if you walked and talked, you were drafted.”
 
Slusher, who serves as a family service advisor at Arlington Memorial Gardens, has a personal connection with many who have served in the Armed Forces. It's a connection that she builds upon at Arlington with the various offerings and opportunities for veterans.
 
One of those offerings is a seminar that helps veterans learn about and sign up for the Aid and Attendance Pension, which entitles them and their spouses to receive income to cover things like nursing or private home care when they reach the age of 65.
 
“Very few people know about this benefit,” Slusher says. “And to find out that there’s something out there—that’s most seniors’ big worry. What will happen? How will I pay for this? It can keep them from going on Medicaid, and it’s just a great service to them.”
 
In addition to helping vets sign up for their pensions, Arlington also hosts Memorial Day and Veterans Day activities, where the organization brings in the Cincinnati VA Medical Center Mobile Unit to provide easier access to benefits and preventive care.
 
“I had one man a year ago that’s been trying for 16 years to get signed up for his benefits—somehow he could never get signed up,” Slusher says. “He walked in, walked out, and was so happy.”
 
Sometimes it’s the simple things, like giving veterans the opportunity to open up and share their stories with one another, that leave lasting impacts.
 
“A lot of the veterans can’t talk about the war for a long, long time,” Slusher says. “So we do other programs where a veteran can tell their story, and we have a historian who will come to our seminars and she writes novels, biographies and does videographies about their lives.”
 
Slusher says the organization is proactive in helping veterans because they’ve helped us ove the years; it’s just the right thing to do.
 
“Honoring their service—that’s what we’re here for,” Slusher says. 

Do Good: 

• Keep up with upcoming events and activities at Arlington. 

• Like Arlington's Facebook page, and follow the organization on Twitter.

• Attend the next Second Sunday Concert Series on July 14.

By Brittany York

Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a teacher at the Regional Institute of Torah and Secular Studies. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.