Purple Heart veterans service offices closing because of a lack of funding

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Edward Rausch received a Purple Heart after he was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2003 while serving with the Wisconsin National Guard.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart has announced it is shutting down its veterans services offices nationwide and laying off its service officers because of a lack of funding.

The instantly recognizable medal is given to American service members injured or killed in action. For many years the Military Order of the Purple Heart has paid for service officers throughout the country to help veterans and their families with benefits.

But this month the Military Order of the Purple Heart announced it was shutting down the offices nationwide and laying off its service officers because of a lack of funding. The group has operated at a loss the last two years — $1.9 million in fiscal year 2016 and $5.2 million last year.

After he was wounded Rausch sought the help of the Purple Heart service officer in Wisconsin, whose office is at the Zablocki Veterans Affairs Hospital in Milwaukee. And last September Rausch was hired for the position.

2nd Lt. Tony Gatlin (right) informs Sgt. Matt Curler, of Milwaukee, (seated) and Spc. Edward Rausch (far left), of West Allis, of an upcoming patrol in Iraq on Dec. 21, 2003. They were serving with the Wisconsin Army National Guard 32nd Military Police Company. Rausch received a Purple Heart when he was wounded by a roadside bomb and has worked in Milwaukee as a Military Order of the Purple Heart service officer since September. The veterans group is shutting down its service officer program because of a lack of funds.

But he'll soon lose his job when Military Order of the Purple Heart service offices close June 30.

"It's been upsetting," said Rausch, who served two tours in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard.

Rausch helps veterans negotiate benefits and claims within the vast VA system. He also tells them about the Purple Heart pass that allows recipients free entry to some museums in Wisconsin and he assists widows and widowers of Purple Heart recipients with paperwork for burial benefits.

The Milwaukee office, which handles all Purple Heart recipients in Wisconsin, represents more than 2,200 veterans. Rausch is currently helping around 200 of those veterans with pending claims or appeals.

The Military Order of the Purple Heart organization will remain open — only the national service program that helps veterans and their families is shutting down, a move a Purple Heart spokesman called "an agonizing decision."

"That's the heart of our organization," said John Bircher, who was wounded in Vietnam while serving with Army Special Forces.

Fundraising is done through the Military Order of the Purple Heart Foundation via direct appeal through mailings and Purple Heart veterans thrift stores, though the major source of the organization's income has been vehicle donations.

"But lots of (charities) are doing that now and that has impacted us," Bircher said.

"We're faced with the same thing that all nonprofits are faced with now — a lot of competition for the same dollars and people not willing to give quite as much."

While other veterans service organizations have large memberships — the American Legion has more than 2 million while the VFW has 1.7 million — the Military Order of the Purple Heart is open to a much smaller segment of those who served in uniform. Membership is now around 45,000 with many from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Bronsen Smith was upset to hear that the Purple Heart service offices were closing. The Rice Lake man was stationed in Germany for several years in an Army unit that handled deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. He was medically discharged because of knee and ankle injuries and is 70% disabled.

Before he sought help from the Purple Heart service office, Smith said he worked with officials from other veterans organizations who lost his paperwork and missed deadlines.

"Edward (Rausch) was the most helpful person I ever met. He goes above and beyond at every task," Smith said. "Which just compounds the sadness. It's heartbreaking that they're done and he's no longer going to be around."

Closing Purple Heart service offices does not mean veterans will no longer have a place to get help. Every veterans service organization provides service officers who help including the VFW, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans. Those with pending claims through Purple Heart service offices will get their cases transferred to another veterans organization's service office.

Bircher said Purple Heart officials plan to restructure fundraising efforts and look for new sources of revenue.

"Hopefully we'll be able to turn this around and bring it back in a few years," Bircher said.