Hello world, welcome to WFHR's Rapids Report for this Monday, November 10th, 2025.
Big shout out to our friends at Crocats Heptic sponsoring this segment, and of course you
have your host James here.
We're joined right now by our good friend, Rock Larson, Wood County Veteran Service
Officer.
Rock is always good to have you in the studio.
How have you been?
It's been busy, but it's great to be here.
Can only imagine, we will wrap up talking about some of the Veteran's Day events going
on in our community, but I wanted to start, Rock, with of all days to have you in, what
a perfect day.
Today is not only, forget me not day, national forget me not day, which is day of observing
and honoring those members of our service that have sacrificed so much, and they come back
and honoring them, and it is also the Marine Corps's birthday.
A perfect day to be talking with you, sir.
Semper five.
Semper five.
Rock, I know that there's, you mentioned tomorrow being Veteran's Day and our pregame
we're talking a little bit about this, certainly got a lot going on, I imagine tomorrow.
There are, not enough hours in the day, what, what, what, what are some of those things
you're going to be doing, what would you like to focus on today?
Well, first off, I'm starting off with, I'm visiting two veterans and assisted living
in the morning just to chat, thank them, give them a couple little trinkets at water
bottle, that's really cool, flag hang up in the room and things like that, but so that's
kind of cool, something that, oh, what else are we doing, I am the MC for the dedication
for the new memorial stones and stuff for the woodconey memorial, which is not being held
outside because it's too cold, yeah, it's always a weird time, you can't count on it, so
they've decided to have it at the assumption, so it'll be at assumption in the gymnasium
I imagine, and so that's at one o'clock I believe I think, yes, one o'clock, and then
from there I have to scoot down, I've been invited to the executive residence for Veteran
celebration, which is mostly going to be, you know, touching base with a lot of legislators
that'll be there and stuff.
They appreciate that work in particular, that is very difficult, and something that we
need representation of, it's good to hear.
Rock, I know that you might have some things to touch on before we dive too deep into them,
I also want to use this as an opportunity, so I, in the last couple of years, have lost
a handful of members of my family that were service members, and in particular, when
I think of them, I think of this day, and like many of our fellow Americans out there,
but the other thing I think of too is the, the amount in the staggering rates of whether
it is current soldiers or veteran suicide rates in those rising every year, the amount
of our, our soldiers are currently enlisted soldiers, the lone veterans that are in need
of service programs because they need help with whatever service programs there are available
to them and everything.
When it comes to doing right by our vets, when it comes to doing right by our currently
enlisted soldiers, I think that it is on every one of our citizens to think of these things,
to keep these things in mind, certainly on Veterans Day, but every day could be Veterans
Day, every day is a good day to be thinking about these things, and I am not trying to be
corny with this at all or not, I'm trying to do right by the people that I'm here because
of, I think it's important, and I don't think we do enough of this, there's plenty of,
you see all over sports, plenty of salute to service and, and you know, before a game
bringing out military members and a lot of these things, I don't see here enough conversation
about these topics in particular, I certainly do from individuals like you rock and people
involved in this, I hear it from veterans all the time, I don't hear it enough from citizens,
they don't, I know that most every American, not a ten Americans care about these things,
I don't think we bring enough attention to them, now is a great opportunity to do that
while we have eyeballs on our veterans, while we have people thinking about this, to look
at those stats yourself, you don't want to just listen to me, go ahead and throw it into
your Google or whatever search engine you want, and look at the stats, how much they
have risen over the last five years in particular, since the pandemic, when it comes to how many
of our service members are fighting to put food on the table, how many of them are struggling
with mental health, it's important, these individuals are the reason we are here to
able to enjoy the American life, I think it's the least we can do to pay attention to these
topics.
Well, and it is, and to be aware of those of everyone around you, not just veterans who
may be changing, struggling, there are lots of programs, I know the health department does
them periodically, the QPR question, persuade, I can't remember what the ours refer, so
programs to make us more aware of someone who may be having a mental health crisis, and
I know they are especially in the military, oh, there's no stigma there, you know, if
we perceive ourselves as a stigma, there is a stigma, let alone if there actually is or
not, and one of my favorite psychological theories, cognitive dissidents, we have to believe
that we're okay, even if we're not, that's the way our mind works, and if you see somebody,
especially, not especially, but anybody, but a veteran who's struggling, you know, refer
them or talk to them about, you know, there's the vet center, which is low key, non-avasive,
counseling, anybody who's been in the service can pretty much get at least five free sessions
with them, just to see if there's something going on, and you owe it to yourself, but
also to your family and your employer, just to see if there is, and then from there
on, we can get into maybe some more structured therapy treatment with the VA health care,
or if you know, if that's not where you want to go, the vet center is still there because
it's, you know, you don't know where someone is in their career, they're worried about
if they're still in the guard or reserve, you know, they don't want that stigma, they
don't want that coming around behind them and biting their career, but they, you know,
mental health, you can't let it fester because it will fester, it's, it's like an infection,
just gets bigger, you can't keep it shoved in that closet, you know, and so if you know
the veterans kind of having problems or think they're having problems, you know, ask, you
know, it's not, you say, hey, you know, there are resources out there that we can help
you get to them, your county veteran service officer can help you at the state veterans,
work program veterans outreach and recovery has a mental health component with clinicians,
but then on top of that, if they're suffering and then they have other stresses, relationship
stresses, finance, job, which is kind of finance, but kind of not, it can be the way, those
all multiply, I was where you used to call in the military combat multiplier, you know,
artillery that multiplies what you can do as an infantryman, air support multiplies.
Well, these stresses multiply, they build on you and they make, they make it all so much
worse and you can, there is help out there, yeah, please for your loved ones, if not for
yourself, get out there and ask for a little bit of help just to see, because if it's, you
know, maybe, maybe you're right and you're fine and it's the rest of us that are out, but
maybe not and, and we do need to look and have somebody that's not emotionally involved
in what you're going through to help you kind of lay it out.
Yeah.
Having that third party there that has no, you know, one way or the other about it, they're
just looking at you as an individual and being able to really help you assess this.
And I think that certainly our veteran, but anybody could be well suited by this and
something to keep in mind.
Did you have anything you wanted to focus on today?
I think one of the things going on, so in addition to, we're still not struggling, but
just plowing ahead with all this toxic exposure, pack that stuff, I've seen some amazingly
different stuff come out with wins for disabilities now because they were on, you know, places
that were toxic dumps, you know, I saw your Air Force base at a win recently, I mean,
I'm just looking around, you know, I don't think there's anything there.
I go, oh, we, there is.
And this veteran with a couple different types of cancer and we've got him service connected
and him and his family are getting benefits and then there's all sorts of neat things kind
of sort of going on in the legislature, one of the big things that we are our state association
testified on last week as a drivers identifier, labeling veterans, making that available
to the reserve component, people who served in the reserve component, so that's a big
thing.
There's another big.
It's a big for representation on that and I can only imagine what it means of those
individuals.
Right, because it really aren't unless they're called up for active duty other than training
or injured, having for bid, which happens because military trainings, you play with big
toys and you do it while you're tired, right?
And in the dark and stuff, so stuff happens.
We can get service connection on that if it's documentation, but for those that, you
know, serve their four or six years of going to drill weekend and worrying about whether
or not they're going to get called up, but they made it through, there's a flag and
funeral honors upon their death and maybe a VA home loan, but other than that, there's
not a lot of where this would give them, you know, recognition, they're sitting there
with this, they can use it to get their reduced.
It can go a long way.
There's a lot of different benefits for being a veteran that people, community, are businesses
out in the community and nationwide, offer for those who have served, you know, given
up some of their time and lots of their freedom to protect our freedom.
Yeah, this is something, well said, because this is something they've earned, like this
is something they should, in my, just my wording, I think they should have already had.
So it's great to get to this point.
It is.
And it seems to be a lot of support in the legislature for that.
So that's a big thing.
They're still looking at the property tax credit.
There's a bill into lower down to 80% whereas last session and session before was 70% and
it's such a big price tag.
There's a lot of 70%ers and there's fewer 80 and 90.
And as I often say when I'm talking to legislators, the reality is sooner or later somebody's
got to pay that ticket and as our associations testimony said, you know, this is a compromise
because nobody gets in a democracy, everything they want is, it's, you know, it's a frugal
steward of our tax dollar, but it's also recognizing and honoring those who are catastrophically
disabled due to their service in the military.
Right.
Which again, one of those things that I think it, I can't, I could not imagine not wanting
to help, not wanting to be there for that in any way we can as citizens.
And those two are moving along.
There's a bunch of other things that may or may not have the light of day, may or may
not.
The reality is, you know, the minority party, if they stay the minority party, the bills
that are introduced are probably not going to go far by them alone.
However, in the next election, that might change and these then might be more viable.
So there's a bunch of stuff out there, but it's the reality of the legislative process.
Which is why another reason why it's important when it comes to these topics to know who
you're voting for, to know where they stand on these issues, if that matters to you, and
to keep it in mind.
And also, if these issues do appeal to you, if you're in favor of them, you need to let
your legislator know, because they get enough calls, they won't, okay, well, you know,
if they, yeah, it's a nice thing to do, but nobody really cares about it, so I'm just
going to, and we'll move on to something that's, people are bothering us with a new, squeaky
wheel thing.
Just show your support in any legislation, whether it's veteran or schools or whatever.
It goes a lot farther than I think we can realize sometimes, especially, you know, just
talking to these individuals that have come in and join us and everything, and how
much they want to do that job.
I'm guilty of this sometimes where I get really locked, and I want to lump all politicians
together.
In case, and especially just speaking of the local ones we have, where I have a Senator
Tess and a representative Kruegen once a month, and just talking to them on air off air,
I know how much this topic means to them, reaching out to individuals like that.
It's how they, to be blunt, it's how they do their job right, and hearing from us, that
we're, we're the boss here, we're the ones telling them what we want.
You got to tell them, you got to tell them, though, you got to make sure to tell them.
And it's not a bad idea to be reminding them of it from time to time.
An email might not do it.
You might have to keep it up.
No.
I know some call them all the time, but you know, we try as an association, I'm on our legislative
team, no longer the chairman, thank goodness, but it's reach out.
You got to reach out, you got to be informed, and you have to remember that, you know, with
most of these things, it comes with a price tag, and when it comes with a price tag,
it's our money, and I don't have enough of it, so I would like them to, you know, be
responsible on what, but there are certainly many, many others that deserve a little bit,
you know, because I'm blessed, they may not be, at type thing, and as you can't, they're
but for the grace of God, could be us, all right, and so it's a democracy, nobody gets
everything they want, that's why we better take care, a little bit of the people that
really are struggling and need our help.
It's our honor to do that.
This is not a responsibility, this is not a, a, a, polls down on your, your, your income
or something like that, it is an honor to be able to do these things, and again, encourage
you to reach out to your representatives, and make sure that they know how much it means
to you, and how important it is to us.
Rock, did you have anything else you wanted to touch on before, let you go?
There's just a little bit, you know, to say on, we've got a presentation I'm giving
to Renaissance learning, nationwide, type, a little wellness thing, the day after veterans
day, about veterans, and the bottom line is, you know, a country is kind of judged by
how they treat their elderly, their children, their disabled, and their veterans.
Those are all very needy and worthy populations who have either suffered their, by, um, non-ferrous
unfortunate grace of, of, of God, you know, with the disabilities, veterans have given
so much, the elderly, I mean, I deal with people who long, I'll live their retirement
plan.
They don't think they're going to live to be in their 90s type thing, and, and trying
to figure out ways to make that stretch a little longer, a little, as, as, as a wonderful
project of my days.
Mm-hmm.
So treat them all well.
Yeah.
Well said, Rock.
I just wanted to touch on some veterans day events here in Rapids that are going, and
be going on, uh, as far as for today, uh, this Monday, if you're listening to this, keep
in mind that there's a VFW spaghetti dinner that's waiting for you, veterans eat free at
the VFW post 2534, 2711 red and road here in Rapids, 430 to 7, that will be going on.
And then on Tuesday, November 11, 11AM, Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Park in downtown Rapids,
at 1 o'clock, Rock mentioned the legacy stone dedication will be happening at Assumption
High School on Chestnut Street here in Rapids, and at 3 o'clock, the Veterans Day observance
with rededication of the Veterans Memorial, that'll take place over at Midseh Tango College
at 32nd Street, uh, 32nd Street North here in Rapids.
We'll be talking about these on our morning show again, and, uh, keep them, and keep, keep
these in mind.
Everybody, keep them close to heart, attend them all if you can, be there for your vets
as much as you can.
And Rock, if people have, uh, follow up questions, would like to know more, what's the best
way to get in touch with you?
Uh, best way is probably a phone call to our office, uh, 715-421-842-0, uh, yeah, give
us a call, set up an appointment, we'll sit down and, and, and go over everything with
your veteran, and try to see if there might be some way we can improve their life, and
bring resources here to wonderful woodconey.
Our, uh, County Veteran Service Office is located here in Rapids at the Wood County
Courthouse at 400 Market Street, right here in Rapids, around the first floor, and you
can also find out more information by going to the website, woodconeywi.gov, woodconey
wi.gov.
Uh, Rock, always good to talk to you, we'll talk again real soon.
Alright, pleasure.
Thank you for joining us, and thank you, everybody, for joining us for another edition
of WFHR's Rapids Report.
