Long after his discharge following four years of duty during the Desert Storm campaign, local Bronze Star recipient Danny Hayes continues to serve his brothers and sisters in arms.

As the Danbury municipal Director of Veterans Affairs, with the blessing of Mayor Mark Boughton, Mr Hayes turns no request away and leaves no call for assistance unanswered — even if that query comes from somewhere else in the western Connecticut region.

“I’m helping one gentleman from Newtown right now,” Mr Hayes said during a brief chat with The Newtown Bee. “It’s supposed to be for just Danbury because each town should have its own [veterans services] rep, but I do callers from other towns.”

The retired Army specialist was also recognized by outgoing US Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty recently as being among a vast constituency who sought and received assistance from the representative and her staff. As a municipal veterans’ point of contact and decorated war hero, he never thought he would need help himself.

But as was related in an August 2016 feature in The Newtown Bee, Mr Hayes was pressed to contacted Rep Esty earlier that year after months spent trying to obtain a copy of his military discharge paperwork. He needed the paperwork to prove he was a veteran and get a discount for home improvement supplies.

Unfortunately, Mr Hayes and his late father share the same exact name. So, after receiving the more recently discharged Daniel Hayes’ request, the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) mistakenly sent him his father’s paperwork, causing unforeseen delays and preventing the Newtown veteran from accessing his benefits.

Having heard of Ms Esty’s work with other veterans in central and northwest Connecticut, Mr Hayes turned to her for help clearing up the mistake. The lawmaker reached out to the NPRC to track down the correct paperwork with Mr Hayes name — not his father’s — and to ensure the right documents were processed and dispatched.

“In less than two weeks, the problem was resolved, and the proper paperwork was sent to me,” he said in the 2016 feature. “Shortly after, I was able to access my state veterans’ benefits.”

Those benefits, he estimates, helped save around $3,000 when Mr Hayes added a deck and sun room to his home. After his case was resolved successfully, he began to work with Rep Esty’s office on more than 50 other veterans’ cases.

These days, along with the roster of requests for assistance he is handling in his part-time position, Mr Hayes is also trying to promote what he feels is one of the least utilized benefits that most honorably discharged state veterans are entitled to — courtesy of the Connecticut Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Fund.

“Being the new Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Fund guy, I can help get qualified [service members] help. For that [veteran] in Newtown I can get him a month’s rent, a month’s utilities paid, a couple hundred in food, a couple hundred in clothing vouchers,” he said. “Mayor Boughton doesn’t care where they are calling from; we’re never going to turn away a veteran.”

According to the American Legion, the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Fund was established in 1919 to assist needy wartime veterans and their families. It is administered by the American Legion in accordance with the provisions of the Connecticut General Statutes, Sections 27-138 and 27-140, and is governed under the Bylaws of the American Legion Department of Connecticut.

Eligibility requirements include participation in honorable wartime service as defined in Connecticut General Statutes Section 27-103; Connecticut residency and demonstration of need.

Assistance is provided for temporary periods only and is limited in amount, frequency, and duration, as specified by the State Fund Commission in accordance with the provisions of the American Legion Bylaws. Income and asset limitations apply.

Also available is information regarding the types of available assistance, contact information for fund representatives, and how and where to apply. Connecticut veterans requiring assistance may contact one of the agency’s full-time veterans aid investigators or a volunteer fund representative serving their locality in order to discuss their situation and the assistance that the agency might be in a position to provide.

As Mr Hayes mentioned, the fund can deliver weekly assistance, assistance with rental payments or mortgage interest payments, with utilities such as gas, electricity, water, and home heating fuel, with medical expenses (limits apply), with emergent dental care (veteran only), eye examination and eyeglasses, audiological evaluation and hearing aids, funeral expenses, and durable medical equipment.

“I meet with them, take care of all the paperwork, and I get and distribute the checks to them,” Mr Hayes said. “In some rare cases where they don’t drive, I go to them. And eligibility renews each year.

“In the city position, I’m helping veterans with identification, but the big thing is loss of paperwork,” he said. “I have all the proper contacts to get people the help they need, even burial benefits and headstone markers.”

Through the Danbury Veterans Affairs Office, Mr Hayes is glad to provide referrals and information, and answer inquiries regarding veterans’ benefits, housing, monetary support, and psychological and medical assistance.

For more information, call Mr Hayes at 203-797-4620 or e-mail d.hayes@danbury-ct.gov.