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New veterans’ agent committed to honoring military

Date: 11/21/2011

Nov. 21, 2011

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

LONGMEADOW — Last week marked the beginning of what can be a difficult time for those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.

Starting with Veterans Day and running through the end of December, the holiday season can put extra strain on veterans and their families, as well as the families of active-duty servicemen and women.

“It can be very depressing,” Jason Dieni, Longmeadow’s new veterans’ services officer and former Marine told Reminder Publications. “This year we celebrated the Marine Corps’ birthday and Veterans Day in the same week and Thanksgiving is not that far away. It can be difficult.”

Dieni said that more often than not, the families of those whose loved ones are overseas are the ones who are most deeply affected.

“If the family has children, that spouse is raising those kids themselves. Being alone can be the toughest thing. With deployments extended, it’s especially hard. There’s no such thing as a six-month tour anymore,” he said. “And for the kids, that parent that’s gone is more of just an image, just a name.”

It’s a situation Dieni is all too aware of as a former Marine and something he’s ready to help Longmeadow residents with as he continues to settle into his new position.

Dieni, who served in the infantry in Kosovo, Liberia and Iraq, and was part of two Marine expeditionary units, believes that the fact that he is a veteran himself will make him an effective advocate for others in town who have served.

It was his own experiences in receiving benefits that made him think that veterans’ services might be a good fit for him.

“I’m the kind of guy who researches everything, so when I got home and started receiving benefits, I made sure that I knew everything I could,” he said. “When my friends who served started coming home, a lot of them started calling me for advice, so it kind of became a second job for me.”

After attending Western New England University and running his own business until the economic downturn, he became an intern at the Mason Square Veteran’s Outreach Center in Springfield and later also took a position with the Springfield Veterans’ Affairs Office.

When the opportunity in Longmeadow presented itself, he saw an opportunity to help on a full-time basis, he said.

Dieni believes that his position is a vital one to ensure the care of those who served in wars long past as well as those troops returning from the simultaneous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“It’s very important because there is no advertising for benefits,” he said.

There is a challenge in dealing with two very different groups of veterans, Dieni admitted.

“For the kids, it’s very important to make sure that they are aware of the benefits they’re entitled to. A lot don’t like the idea of taking a handout, but it’s not a handout. They earned those benefits and have a right to them,” he said. “In my experience, the older generations are very disgruntled and bitter because they’re finally hearing about these benefits more and more and they haven’t been collecting until just recently.”

Benefits offered through Massachusetts General Law Chapter 115 are one of the primary focuses of Dieni’s job, as well as offering aid for housing, attendants for aging or disabled veterans and helping spouses and widows.

Dieni added that readjustment to civilian life is another challenge young veterans are faced with.

“My hardest time wasn’t adapting from civilian life to Marine life. It was adapting from being a Marine to a civilian,” he said. “One day I was in a battle zone and the next I was in a classroom. I think I was home for a few months and was still trying to adapt.”

Dieni said that anyone having problems with that transition is more than welcome to talk with him and his own experience can make it easier for some veterans to speak with him.

“I know veterans would rather talk to another veteran,” he said. “If you’re pouring your heart out to a civilian who has no idea what you’ve been through, it probably isn’t going to help them as much as if they pour their heart out to another veteran who has dealt with the same thing.”

Dieni is available at the Longmeadow Adult Center, which is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. He can be reached at 565-4150 or via email at jdieni@longmeadow.org.



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