Unity, Promises Made, Promises Kept

Last Friday, Living Chronic hit the streets of Washington, DC to cover the Unite for Veterans Rally — a powerful gathering calling attention to the needs of veterans living with chronic illness, disability, and trauma.

In this special episode, Brandy shares personal reflections from the rally, interviews with advocates, and powerful moments from the march. It’s a raw, moving look at what it means to show up, speak out, and demand change.

Tune in for voices that matter, stories that heal, and a rallying cry for visibility, access, and justice.

Transcript

This is Brandy Shantz and you're listening to Living Chronic. Today I have a special episode covering the United for Veterans rally that occurred here in Washington, DC on Friday. I was very honored to be able to cover this rally. I am a disabled veteran. My husband is a retired army officer and I'm a former military brat. My father served in the US Navy.

So I was born into the military and have remained there in some capacity ever since. I truly believe that maintaining veterans benefits, keeping our promises made to veterans are some of the most important things we can do in this country. The military and veterans, they're my family. They always will be my family. So being included in this rally and the coverage of that rally was truly an honor.

And with that mind, I would like to start by thanking the organizers of the event and especially Arabella Meyer and Joe Plinsler. They really did welcome me in and allowed me to just have the time of my life getting to interview people and get behind the scenes of this rally. It was truly an honor. got to sit next to reporters from

Rolling Stone and New York Times and Washington Post and this lady with a podcast really felt special to be included in that group. So again, a really big thank you. I enjoyed every second of covering this rally.

So why cover the United for Veterans Rally? Well, the obvious reasons, but disabled veterans, we're living chronic just like everybody else and that is a part of my family. So I thought it was very important to cover the rally and be able to talk about what was said, how people feel and where people are coming from.

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This rally was billed as a bipartisan rally. And for me, that's very important. As a disabled veteran, I cannot afford for veterans benefits to become a wedge issue. This is an important issue. These are benefits earned promises that must be kept. And I believe that even in our partisan and very vitriolic times, we need to remember.

that there are bipartisan efforts and should be bipartisan efforts. And this is one of them. This podcast, I do not talk politics. I try to keep this particular show without a political bend, if you will, because I want everybody to feel welcomed and included. This is a show about living chronic. This is a show about

learning to live with disability and illness and fighting our way through various difficulties, whether it be the healthcare system, the workplace, insurance, our day-to-day lives, parenting, relationships, all of these things. And I don't want anybody to feel that they are not included in this because they may have a different political point of view than someone else.

I certainly have taken up a couple of issues, but there are always issues that affect us. And I will always support chronically ill and disabled persons, especially my fellow disabled veterans, no matter the political bend. If it supports us, I support that. So with that in mind, I really wanted to go to this rally and

take a look at this from a bipartisan lens and take a look at this just from the lens of how are we supporting veterans and how are we bringing people together because we need to work together if we are going to succeed in our efforts to maintain veterans benefits and ensure that the promises made are promises kept. So exciting week for me last week. It started with

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an interview with Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphy's, which was a very exciting moment for me. It was mentioned by a couple of veterans at that press conference that Dropkick Murphy's music was the soundtrack of Iraq and Afghanistan. And that is true. They were the soundtrack of Iraq and Afghanistan. And

There's a special place I think in many military and veterans hearts for Dropkick Murphy's. So having that opportunity to interview Ken Casey was special. He has been busy as always. He has been doing the stuff he always does. There's the Clad Owl Fund, which supports nonprofits with a focus on children and veterans. Like I said, he's done a lot of work to support military and veterans over the years. So we really appreciate it. It's very appropriate.

that he and Dropkick Murphy's would be performing at this rally. He has done so many things that I don't think most people even know about. He's performed at memorial ceremonies for veterans or for military who've been killed in action. He has done a lot of charity work and fundraising to support us. And most recently, he has been doing work to support Ukraine.

Delivery, specifically delivering ambulances to the front. I learned that an ambulance on the front is, they're targeted by Russia and have an average lifespan of only 11 days, 11 days. So delivering these ambulances to the front, super important to the cause and the mission in helping Ukraine. And I know that there's a lot of appreciation there for the work he's doing.

The band also has some new music coming out. They have a new album dropping on July 4th and we had an opportunity to hear some of the new music on Friday. Great music. I know I'm a fan so I'm very biased but definitely check it out. They're single, Who Will Stand With Us. It's a great song. I think you'll love it. Go to their website, check it out. It was amazing.

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great time to be had. And of course, if you follow my Instagram, you probably caught some good moments from that concert. It was a lot of fun. So when I had the opportunity to speak with Ken Casey, I really wanted to talk a little bit about politics, which of course is different for me. But while there, let's meet this head on. Dropkick Murphy's is known for their support of Democratic candidates.

They're known for supporting more liberal causes. They're known for supporting the working man unions. You know, they're a very political band. But for those of us who are fans, we also know they've had some really great bipartisan moments. So Ken Casey pretty famously supported Charlie Baker, a Republican, for governor of Massachusetts. And he said he chose character over party.

And I thought that was a great lesson for bipartisanship. Of course, Charlie Baker had amazing polling guy. Everybody loves Ken Casey in Massachusetts, but it does say a lot when somebody who has supported Democrats and liberal causes will turn and say, you know what, I'm going to support a that character over a party. And I thought it was important to mention and ask about

He also pretty famously had an exchange with a fan at a concert. He saw some people in the crowd wearing some Trump gear and made a bet with them. Dropkick Murphy's gear is all made in the USA. He bet these fans that the Trump gear was not made in the USA. And of course he won the bet. And I wanted to ask about that as well.

it seemed like a really great lesson in how to have an exchange with somebody that you disagree with and not get into an argument or a fight or be, you know, nasty vitriolic, all of these things that we're becoming more used to hearing, in the U S and I'm glad I talked to him about that because he did talk about how, you know, he's human just like the rest of us and we're, we can be emotional. can be,

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very reactive in how we feel about things and just spill out something, not necessarily in the most positive manner, but he does keep these core values at heart and knowing who Charlie Baker was helped him to support that particular Republican. And he also talked about how thankful he was that he felt restrained when speaking with that fan.

because it turns out the fan has been going to his concerts for 25 years. And he spoke to him after the concert and told him, this fan told him that, you know, he's been there going to his concerts for 25 years, listening to his music. He felt he was family and family never lets politics come between them. And I thought that was a really great story. And, you know, again,

Ken noted that he was glad he was patient that day, because he's not always patient. None of us are. I've been known to have an outburst. We get angry. There's a lot of emotion tied up in politics today in the US. But sometimes we just have to try to reach out and find what we have in common instead of focusing on what is different.

And I think he said it quite well when Ken Casey said, if we can't come back to stability, we're screwed. And that is the big takeaway from the rally on Friday. And what I really want to talk about and focus on in this discussion about the United for Veterans Rally. I did get a chance to speak with a lot of people at the rally. And of course, as expected.

There were plenty of anti-Trump signs. There were plenty of people who were there with, know, your funny memes, some big jokes. There were certainly some partisan speakers, but I also met a lot of people who were there just to support veterans. And I tried to seek out people who were there with the signs, just supporting veterans, the people there with

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unions or other employment groups. As you know, I have a strong focus on hiring disabled, hiring disabled veterans. So I wanted to hear from those people. I live in the Washington DC area. I mean, we're, as a matter of fact, my neighborhood is the bluest spot in the entire state of Virginia. So I can talk to an anti-Trump person any day, every day. I can walk out my front door and

probably scream, hey, who hates Trump and have 15 people just run over to talk to me. I wanted to talk to the people who were not there as a protest to Trump. I wanted to talk to the people who were there just for the veterans. And I'm certainly glad I did. I spoke with people who identified as Reagan Republicans. I spoke with people who identified as independents. I spoke with a couple of people who voted for Trump himself, but they all

felt that the real issue at the heart of this was veterans and supporting veterans. Because again, for those of us who are sick, for the many disabled veterans out there, we cannot afford for veterans benefits to be a wedge issue. We need this to be bipartisan. We need widespread support. What was so amazing about speaking with them is we really

had that opportunity to focus on what we had in common. And we focused on veterans benefits. We focused on our stories. I had the opportunity to speak with three women who were all Navy veterans, just like my father, and just like me, all three of them had children who went into a different service. Of course, my husband and I both had fathers in the Navy. We both took off for the Army, much to the distress of our fathers. But

These women all had the same story. Each one had children in a different service. One had a son in the Marines. We had the Army represented. We had one in the Air Force. So it was really great to see my story reflected in a group of really great women. And we talked a lot about not just veterans benefits, but the future. All three of them have children in the military.

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And they want to support and know that these children will be taken care of as promised when they themselves become veterans one day. So, so much of this rally was also about supporting the military who will become veterans later on. I spoke with a lot of people from unions as well. And as we know, there are a lot of veterans losing their jobs out of the federal government right now. And it's not just about

giving a job to a veteran, it's about maintaining dignity for the workforce.

disabled people can contribute to the economy and we want to. And ensuring that accommodations can be met and ensuring that we do what we can to maintain employment for disabled veterans, disabled people, especially it's really important. Workers' rights are essential. And as we...

walk into this new world that we're entering with AI and everybody's discussing whose job will be relevant and whose will be taken by AI. I think it's important to remember that workers' rights and human rights are very important because often workers' rights are human rights. And this was something that was supported across the board out there. We need to maintain the dignity of workers and ensuring that people are not fired indiscriminately.

should should be upheld and that was a very important message at the rally on Friday. It was a very important message. I also spoke with some folks who've been around forever so you know we had some young folks there and I always love talking to the really young people. I'm you middle-aged myself I'm an you know I'm like I am an Afghanistan war veteran my husband is a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan I guess I should just say the

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Iraq and Afghanistan years, a lot easier. But I also had the opportunity to speak with Vietnam veterans. And that really led to the heart of a lot of what was so important about this rally. And that was stopping the privatization of veterans affairs. As a person living with a chronic illness, and of course, speaking with some older veterans who have numerous health issues, we know the value.

of the VA hospital and our caregivers there. I know everybody thinks that privatization sounds like it must be better, giving us choice, access to doctors. But the truth is, we have a shortage of doctors, nurses, healthcare providers in general all over the United States. It's far worse if you live in a rural area. But even I living in the DC metro area,

I have trouble accessing healthcare. Everybody's busy. Nobody wants to take the folks whose insurance pays out far less than a private insurance. So that does put us at a disadvantage. So when you say, we can send veterans to the community, let me tell you, the community does not have space for us. And we've already learned this lesson. Active duty military made the same mistake. They sent

Dependents to the community. They said that we're gonna cut back, we're gonna save money on military medicine and send dependents out to the community. The problem is they did not coordinate with the community. And of course they learned the community had no space for these dependents. So military families, many found themselves flying many states over just to try to get healthcare. It's been a disaster. Military medicine will admit it did not.

work. Why are we trying to do this with Veterans Affairs Healthcare? It will not work.

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I can tell you, I live with illness. Nobody has space for me. And what's worse is I have some unique illnesses. I heard the same from some of these Vietnam vets that I interviewed, fellow Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. We have unique illnesses that the rest of the population does not have, whether it be specific war-related injuries, amputations.

PTSD, we also have the burn pits and other toxic exposure illnesses to deal with. Why is it important that we're at the VA? Because doctors who work at the VA can start to see patterns.

Brigadier General Heston died of a very rare cancer. I interviewed his widow, June Heston.

They knew something was wrong. He had lost a lot of weight rapidly. He was told over and over again, I don't know what's wrong with you, but it's not cancer. It was cancer.

A rare cancer. But when you have veterans in one place together at the VA, doctors can start to identify patterns. They can start to identify trends. And this is how we start to diagnose these cancers earlier so that veterans may get treatment and possibly live. And I think that's one of the legacies that General Heston and I know his widow June would like.

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to come out of this. Keep veterans in VA so that we can diagnose quicker, so that we can save lives, so that the next veteran may be able to get treatment.

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They're learning a lot from us as well. I know I serve on the board of the Crohn's colitis foundation and they can learn a lot about veterans coming back with IBD after serving near burn pits. We have something that they just don't have access to with most patients. The military has my DNA. They have information on me from when I was healthy. They have it today. Now that I am not so healthy. That's very important for research.

So we're even helping those outside of VA. There are benefits that go far beyond just paying for veterans' healthcare. And it's very important to point that out. When I spoke with veterans who are getting their care at the VA, we all said the same thing. I get better care at the VA. Please don't send me to the community. So that is very important to remember. That is one of the most important things to come out of this rally.

Do not privatize Veterans Affairs Healthcare. You're not just helping veterans, you're helping everybody. Imagine what they're going to find out from us and all the things that we are suffering due to toxic exposure.

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The rally was a really great opportunity to bond, to come together as one, because the truth is, veterans and military, as much as we're being pulled apart by politics, we still always find a way to come together, because we are one family. And that rally really showcased it.

It's just all veterans from every possible place. I met people who came from Florida. I met people who came in from South Carolina. I met people who lived in the DC area, some that flew in from the West coast. So it's amazing how this commonality brings us together and brings us to a place of unity.

And that's important.

Because if we want these things to happen, if we want veterans to maintain benefits, if we want to make the VA better, and I'm not saying that the VA is the best it is, I know it isn't. I would love to get in there with a lean Six Sigma and start making some changes.

But cuts to benefits aren't the way. Haphazardly firing VA workers is not the way. Privatizing is not the way.

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But if we're going to do this and we're going to do it right, then we need to come together and we need to have bipartisan efforts and we need to do this well and smart. And we need to all agree on the facts. We need to agree that veterans matter. We need to agree that promises made should be promises kept. Because as Ken Casey said so very well, if we cannot come back to civility, we're screwed.

Thank you for listening. Don't forget, call your representative, support Veterans Affairs, stop the privatization.