Veterans can get info on benefits

Brewton Attorney Thad Moore, Sr., is hosting a seminar from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, July 12, in the parish hall at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Brewton, located at 206 Peavy St., for all military veterans and their spouses to learn more about benefits that they may be entitled to.

Gene Moore, veterans service officer for Escambia County, will be there to explain disability benefits available to veterans and to answer questions. The seminar is free and a light lunch will be provided, but Thad Moore asks for people to either call his office at 251-867-7724 or stop by his office at 401 Evergreen Ave., in Brewton, to sign up, noting space is limited.

Thad Moore said 20 years ago his wife Cindy saw something in a newspaper article about how people exposed to agent orange during the Vietnam War were later being diagnosed with leukemia and government help was available.

"I wouldn't have known about it if it hadn't been in a newspaper," Thad Moore said.

Moore said since the Veterans Affair office moved from Brewton to Atmore there have been several seminars about possible veteran benefits on the west end of the county, but he wanted to bring one to Brewton for people in Flomaton and people living in the east end of the county.

"Our firm has a lot of veterans who are clients and they don't know what they or their families are entitled to," Thad Moore said. "It's important to try and get the word out."

Thad Moore said the benefits for veterans could include health care, disability benefits, nursing home care, home health care and educational opportunities.

Thad Moore, 81, served in the Army from 1967 to 1969 and spent one year in Vietnam running a post office for the 25th Infantry Division.

He said he was exposed to agent orange while working in a sub-post in the jungles in Vietnam and said he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2023 which he feels was the result of his exposure during the war.

Moore said the diagnosis forced him to 'semi-retire' noting his diagnosis makes him tired in the afternoons, but he still works as a lawyer.

"I don't do courtroom work anymore," Moore said. "We have four young lawyers in our firm that handle that."

"I wanted to have the meeting in Brewton to give veterans and their spouses an opportunity to learn what they may be entitled to," Thad Moore said.