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Joey DeBoise joined the Air Force at the age of 18 and spent 20 years in the military. He was sent to Vietnam as a meal courier, and transported food for soldiers from base to base by helicopter and by truck.
Joey enjoyed his military service, and spent 15 years overseas. He met his wife Martina while he was stationed in Spain, and now has two daughters, Angela and Iris.
Four years after Joey retired from the Air Force, he began to feel dizzy and experience muscle spasms. Joey, an avid racquetball player and a black belt in judo, noticed that his legs just weren't working correctly. A doctor at his local VA diagnosed him with lateral sclerosis – the disintegration of his muscle tissue – caused by exposure to Agent Orange.
Joey, who is now in a wheelchair, was deemed to be 100 percent disabled by the VA, and became eligible for disability payments as well as his retirement pension. But he is not permitted to collect both retirement and disability pay at the same time. Joey estimates that this fundamental unfairness in the law has cost him $250,000 over the past 17 years.
Joey, who is now confined to a wheelchair, continues to work as a veterans advocate in New Hampshire. "I'm going to fight to get all veterans the benefits they deserve," he said. "And that's what I want you politicians to do."
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