Stephen Boyd served on active duty in the US Army from 1967 to 1970. He served in Korea in 1968 and Viet Nam from 1969 to 1970.  He has numerous awards and decorations for his military service.

Steve received his Associates degree in Biology , recently returned to receive his Bachelor of Science degree in 2007 and currently is finalizing his PMP certification. You're never too old for education, he says.

His new experience dealing with the VA came about because of a layoff in 2010. Being without medical coverage, Steve's wife prompted him into investigating the benefits the VA could offer. What a pleasant surprise he had in discovering a wealth of support at the Manchester, NH VA facility.

This week Stephen continues his interviews with veterans and also brings us information about veteran cemeteries that families may not realize or know.

Thomas Van Hees is a veterans' advocate helping veterans obtain compensation from the VA for their service-connected health issues. Thomas has been doing this for nearly nine years and enjoys every minute of it. He has gone through the compensation process many years ago filing some fifteen claims for his own disabilities, and with each award and denial of claims learned valuable information especially through the claim denials.

These awards and denials led to writing a book specifically targeted towards veterans who may be seeking compensation from the VA mainly because Thomas did not want veterans having to go through what he did when seeking compensation from the VA. "Disability Compensation The Veterans Guide" was the outcome of his first book in a series of three books. "Disability Compensation The Veterans Guide" was submitted to the Military Writers' Society of America for review and was entered in their awards contest in 2011. It took the Gold Medal award in the reference category for that year.  Additionally, his book "Life Interrupted by War" took first runner-up in the memoirs category. "Life Interrupted By War" tells of Thomas' experiences in Vietnam as an M60 machine gunner serving with the 7th Marines in 1966-67.

Thomas currently has six books published, two of which were released this last November. "Unheralded Heroes" has been submitted to MWSA for review and is also entered in the coming awards contest. "The Gulf Wars Veterans Guide to Disability Compensation" has not yet been submitted but may be in the immediate future.  All of Thomas' books appear on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Publish America, Blue water Press and the MWSA websites.

Military Mom Talk Radio is co-hosted by Sandra Beck and Robin Boyd, hosted by Toginet Radio and powered by Motherhood Incorporated. Military Mom Talk Radio supports and helps bring information to the families, moms and wives of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard and is dedicated to serving our friends and family in the Armed Service. We are proud supporters and members of the Military Writers Society of America as well as proud supporters of Operation Gratitude, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), Shining Service Worldwide, Fisher House and the Girl Scouts of the USA and Boy Scouts of America.