212 1st Ave E
PO Box 255
McIntosh, SD 57641
Phone: 605-273-4416
Email: [email protected]
Veteran Services Officer: Kevin Dyda
Office Hours: Tuesdays 8:00am – 5:00pm MT
UPCOMING EVENT:
See What’s Brewing…all veterans are invited to join us for a coffee and networking with free coffee and treats while chatting with new or old friends plus learn more about Veteran Benefits from the SD Dept. of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 10:00am Mtn Time at the McIntosh Community Hall on Main Street McIntosh, SD. View the flyer at Veterans Coffee and Networking May 7 VSO McIntosh
What is a Veterans Service Officer?
South Dakota State Law directs that the Board of County Commissioners of each county in this state shall employ a County Veterans Service Officer also referred to as CVSO. Indian Tribes may appoint Veterans Service Officers who shall serve under the same terms and conditions as County Veterans Service Officers. They are known as Tribal Service Officers or TVSO. In most cases the Service Officer is located in the county courthouse or at the tribal headquarters.
The County or Tribal Service Officer provides information, assistance, counseling and referrals on a wide range of subjects, benefits, and veteran programs. The people who are served by Service Officers are referred to as clients and they come from a wide range of society, including the veteran, widows of veterans, dependent children of veterans as well as dependent parents who lost a son or daughter in military service. In addition, the Service Officer must work closely with people in charge of cemeteries or mortuaries; with loaning agencies; realtors and of course officials of County and State Government and all veteran organizations.
Each County or Tribal Veterans Service Officer receives training from the staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs and each of them is trained to furnish information or assistance on a wide range of topics. The topics are not limited to the ones listed here but these do indicate the variety of issues in which they might become involved in any given week. This list includes GI loans, compensation, pensions, education (On-The-Job Training and Apprenticeship Training), rehabilitation, medical and dental treatment, hospitalization or outpatient treatment or nursing home care, residency at the State Veterans’ Home, other state benefits, Social Security, alcoholism and drug dependency treatment, employment and unemployment, small business loans, corrections of military records, review of discharges, burial in a national cemetery, expense reimbursement, headstone or burial allowance, obtaining flags, as well as the protection of veterans’ and widows’ preferences. These are some of the subjects but there can be many more and that is why one of the most important people for a veteran, widow or dependent to know is his or her County or Tribal Veterans Service Officer.
Learn more at SD Department of Veterans Affairs
DD214
One of the most important and frequently requested documents by veterans, or members of their family, is a copy of the veteran’s discharge paper(s). DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty was issued to those who served on active duty after January 1, 1950. Prior to that date, several similar forms were used by the military services, to include WD AGO 53, NAVPERS 553, NAVMC 78PD and others.
Veterans are encouraged to have their discharge papers recorded in the Register of Deeds office in their local county courthouse. By having it recorded, a copy is always readily available in case the original is lost due to fire, flood, etc.
SDCL 34-25-54 states that South Dakota counties may not charge for certified copies of birth, death, marriage, adoption, divorce, guardianship or conservatorship papers when such records are required in support of a claim against any agency of the federal or state government by, or on behalf of, a servicemember or veteran, or the spouse, surviving spouse or dependents of a servicemember or veteran.