AMVETS Opens New Service Office

Tulare - Local veterans, meet Carl Bates. He is here to help.

Bates is the service officer at the newly opened Veterans Service Office at 120 North M St., which is also the new headquarters for the State Department of AMVETS.

As the AMVETS celebrated their grand opening Friday, Bates and his boss, Doug Bradley, director of services and rehabilitation for the AMVETS Service Foundation in Anaheim, were busy outlining to visitors the services offered through the office.

Nationally certified and accredited, Bates can help veterans get into the VA hospital system and file claims for injuries or illnesses related to their military service.

Prior to the opening of the Tulare office, the nearest AMVETS service officer was in Fresno. While Tulare County also offers similar services, budget constraints have reduced staffs and veterans who call today will have to likely wait until mid-October, Bates said.

“Right now I can get you in to see me in two or three days,” he said.

Because of the large concentration of veterans in this area, the AMVETS Service Foundation expects to add another service officer to Tulare by the beginning of next year, state AMVETS Cmdr. Charlie Ramos said.

Bradley said the Service Foundation has or is in the process of developing several programs local veterans will be able to access here in Tulare, including one for women and another for Native Americans.

“We also have a Veterans Recovery Program for veterans that we, quite frankly, didn't reach in time,” Bradley said. The program will help them get into drug and alcohol recovery programs.

Bates also is working with College of the Sequoias and other Valley community colleges to reach out to veterans who recently have returned from the service.

Bates spoke bluntly, telling audience members not to believe veterans who are drinking heavily or abusing their spouses or children when they say they don't have problems.

“They do and they need help,” Bates said.

Ramos, a Tulare businessman and a veteran of the Persian Gulf War, spoke passionately about the importance of helping returning veterans.

“We learned a lot of lessons from Vietnam,” he said. “They were hard lessons and we can't let a generation go again.”

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