What A Medal Of Honor Recipient And A Dying Veteran Taught Me About Service

America knows how to honor its veterans. We put them on parade floats, play the national anthem at major events, and give them standing ovations at football games. Earlier this year, we even watched a 100-year-old Navy fighter pilot receive the Medal of Honor during the State of the Union. We are still learning how to help them when the cameras are off.

Captain Royce Williams flew into history on November 18, 1952. Alone in his F9F Panther, he engaged seven Soviet MiG-15s for 35 minutes. He shot down four, took a 37-millimeter round through his fuselage, and still landed his damaged jet on the USS Oriskany. The mission remained classified for decades. Finally, in February 2026, President Trump recognized him before Congress, and the First Lady presented the medal.

Two years earlier, at age 98, Williams was still stuck at a 90% VA disability rating. His PTSD had never been properly documented in military records from the 1950s, and his claim simply kept stalling. I drove to his house, sat with him, accessed his VA account, and personally filed the claim that ultimately brought his disability rating from 90% to 100%. Millions of Americans later watched him receive the nation’s highest honor. Almost none of them knew that, not long before, one of our most decorated veterans had needed someone to come to his living room and help him secure the benefits he had earned.

A different call came from Corona, California. A veteran’s family said he had about six hours left. I drove there and saw his family gathered around him, crying. He was gravely ill, and his leg had badly deteriorated. Even then, he still needed help filing a VA claim. I sat beside him and filed it.

His wife told me that what I had done gave their family hope and helped honor her husband in his final hours. He died the next morning. His family later invited me to his funeral, and I went.

I could not save his life, but I could still serve him in his final hours.

These two men had nothing in common except their service and the fact that both needed someone willing to do more than say thank you. One lived long enough to stand before the country. The other had only hours left. The system that processes disability claims is complicated for almost everyone. Older records are incomplete, and mental health conditions from earlier generations were rarely written down. The VA is processing more claims than ever, yet hundreds of thousands remain pending. Behind every number is a person or a family waiting for an answer they often cannot get alone.

Most veterans do not need another speech, or just another thank you. They need a ride to an appointment. They need help opening the right form. Sometimes they just need someone who will sit with them while they try to explain what happened decades ago. That is not glamorous work. It is the work that actually changes outcomes.

I started helping veterans navigate these claims because I had gone through the same frustration myself after I left the Marine Corps. The system is not built for people who are tired, sick, or simply done fighting another bureaucracy. It requires persistence and, often, a second set of eyes. Today, through VetComm US, my team and I have helped more than 40,000 veterans pursue the benefits they earned through their service. When a Medal of Honor recipient and a dying man in Corona both needed that kind of help, it was clear the gap is not limited to any one generation or rank.

This Veterans Day, the parades and the handshakes will still matter. So will the medals. But the better question is not “How do we honor them?” It is “How can I be of service?” Call the veteran you know and ask if he or she has ever looked at their disability claim. Offer to drive someone to a VA appointment. Sit with a family member who is trying to figure out the next form. Help someone connect with an accredited veterans service officer. Show up.

The country already knows how to say thank you. The true measure of how we honor our veterans isn’t how loudly we applaud them. It’s whether we show up when they need us.

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Kate Monroe is the CEO of VetComm, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, and author of “The Race to Save California” and “The Race to Save America.”

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