As our veterans age, and others return from war, they sometimes don't know where to turn for the help they need. However, there's one veteran who works tirelessly to make sure other veterans are taken care of.
Larry Hauger works as a service officer with the Disabled American Veterans. "Bottomline is I help the fellow veterans," Hauger said.
He spends countless hours helping veterans get the benefits they need and deserve. "We go out of our way a lot to help the veterans because I believe that's what we're here for. If we're not here to help the veterans go home," stated Hauger.
His attitude has struck a cord with military families over the years. One family told us Larry goes above and beyond--coming in on holidays to visit veterans in the VA hospital and also making sure veterans have a way home before and after appointments. This sometimes means Larry or his volunteers don't get home until midnight. "Long days. I normally work here 6 a.m.-2:30 p.m., but there are days I don't get out of here until 5 or 6 in the evening anyway. It's just part of it," explained Hauger.
After serving more than 20 years in the military, Larry feels his mission now is to help his fellow vets. "It's a brotherhood that unless you were in the military, nobody will ever understand," explained Hauger.
Many of his brothers have come and gone over the years and that's been difficult for Larry. "I enjoy the job even though some days you go outside and hit your head against the tree to make it feel better. I still enjoy the job," said Hauger.
Larry wears a lot of different hats. He works as a claims officer for Disabled American Veterans. He arranges transportation for veterans to get to and from appointments. He also presents flags to widows and next of kin when a veteran passes. He says his most difficult task was to give a 12 year old boy a flag after he'd lost both parents to cancer in a years time. Larry is also quite a joker he has jokes posted all over his office and he has fun with volunteers and people that he works with. He says you have to keep things light in order to survive.