Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the closing of the Veterans’ Administration (VA), VFW Post 5277 service officers were having problems getting claims placed into the system for veterans. So The William A Suggs Memorial VFW Post 5277 invited two VFW state service officers from St. Petersburg to the post to handle claims.
On June 24th, 17 veterans arrived at the post. In keeping with COVID-19 safety precautions, each vet was scheduled to arrive 20-minutes apart; and upon arrival, each had his/her temperature taken, given a face mask if they did not have one, and given hand sanitizer. The 17 veterans went home happy with their claims started.
The VFW plans to invite the State Service Officers to the post in July.