Veteran starts group for disabled vets in N.C.

MOYOCK, N.C.

A former soldier wounded in Vietnam plans to start Currituck County's first chapter of Disabled American Veterans.

As a volunteer veterans service counselor, Chris Curdes of Moyock filed 143 benefits claims last year from the 3,100 veterans listed in Currituck County. Beginning with a 17-page application, the process takes a least a year for a decision.

"Veterans need help," said Curdes, who is trained and sanctioned by both the DAV and Veterans of Foreign Wars. "I'm the guy who cuts through the red tape."

After seeing so many local disabled veterans, Curdes decided to organize a DAV chapter. Wounded in Vietnam from mortar shrapnel, Curdes dresses daily in dark slacks and white shirt adorned with a chest full of campaign ribbons he earned during 18 years in the Army and Navy.

He wears the uniform shopping, to doctor appointments, on trips to the post office, hoping that veterans who need help will strike up a conversation.

Veterans are not required to join the DAV to get benefits, but after many claims filed with Curdes' help returned successfully, more people agreed to join, said Curdes, already a member of the local VFW and American Legion. He expects to get the DAV charter in July.

Of 27 who have committed to join, 14 are Vietnam War veterans. Of the 143 claims Curdes filed, about a third dealt with the effects of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in Vietnam that has been linked to cancer and diabetes, Curdes said. If a veteran develops cancer and was in Vietnam where the Agent Orange was sprayed, the condition is presumed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to have been caused by exposure, Curdes said.

During military reductions in the early 1990s, Curdes was involuntarily separated from the Navy on a physical disability and forced to struggle through the heavy benefits system, a big reason he helps other veterans, he said.

Currituck's new DAV chapter is unusual. DAV chapters nationwide have declined by 258 units over several years, said Tony Baskerville, DAV national membership director. He did not have a record of when the decline began. The organization was founded in 1920.

In the past, World War II veterans have dominated service groups, but Vietnam War-era veterans are reaching retirement age and have more time to participate, said David Autry, deputy national director of communications for the DAV.

Nationwide, the number of disabled veterans has grown to 2.98 million from 2.64 million in 2005. Of that total, 111,201 live in North Carolina. County numbers are not recorded.

The new DAV, along with chapters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion in Moyock, have organized an 11 a.m. July Fourth parade at the Currituck County governmental complex. Among the purposes is to let locals know about the veterans service groups operating in Moyock, Curdes said.

"We want to let the world know we're around," he said. "It's good for the county. It's good for the area. It's good for vets."

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com