Tigers for Troops provides vets with free legal consultation next week in Cape

Veterans in Southeast Missouri who have had problems accessing benefits and making claims will be able to get free help next week thanks to a program of the University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic.

Tigers for Troops will hold the consultation event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 18 at VFW Post 3838, 1049 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

The legal organization is a rural outreach program created by the law school in Columbia that travels around the state providing free legal consultations to veterans who may not be receiving the benefits available to them or have unmet legal needs.

The organization frequently consults with veterans who do not know they qualify for a service-connected disability or after receiving a claim denial from the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Martha Bradley, an attorney with the veterans law clinic. As a result, the veteran may think there are no other options moving forward with the claim.

"The disability compensation process is meant to be very veteran-friendly, but in practice it ends up being pretty complicated," Bradley said. "It's meant for a veteran to be able to just do it all on their own, but they really do need a lawyer's help with a lot of this stuff. Especially if they end up wanting to appeal any of the decisions. These cases start at a regional office and can make it all the way up to the Supreme Court. So, having an attorney be able to step in and help can be really beneficial to a veteran."

The organization focuses mainly on rural areas in Missouri because resources for veterans may be limited in those locations. Along with having multiple attorneys on its staff, Tigers for Troops also connects veterans with attorneys in their local area so information and consultation is more easily accessible.

The group tries to serve as an educational resource for getting information out to veterans, Bradley said.

"A lot of veterans don't realize they are eligible for health care through the VA, meaning they can get free checkups, free medications, free hearing aids and all of those things that they think they're not eligible for," she said. "A lot of the times they actually are, so we like to have someone there to double check those types of things."

Tigers for Troops typically holds four to five consultation events across Missouri a year, but the past two years have had to shift to doing some virtual events because of the pandemic. The event Feb. 18 will be in-person and veterans are encouraged to register online for the event, so the group can ensure enough time is allotted to each veteran, but walk-ins are also welcome.

The team will also have a table set up at the "VAlentine's" Day concert Monday in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, so veterans can find out more about Tigers for Troops and register for the legal consultation Feb. 18.

For more information about the event and the organization visit Tigers for Troops Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MizzouLawVeteransClinic or https://web.cvent.com/event/dd22fd12-a2af-4bb4-86cc-133441b3a34a/summary.

Since the organization was created in 2019, it has reached 87 counties in Missouri and conducted around 120 consultations with veterans, according to Tigers for Troops. After helping more than 700, Tigers for Troops has also secured nearly $10 million for veterans in the form of payments from the Department of Veterans Affairs.