John Contreras retired from the U.S. Army after more than 22 years, almost half of it on active duty. Now, the former first sergeant is Carroll County’s veterans service officer. He says there are some similarities in the roles.
My job in the military as a first sergeant was to take care of veterans,” Contreras said. “It was my job to make sure that they were fed, clothed, they had all the equipment, everything that they needed. And it branched out over here.”
Contreras is still taking care of veterans, whether that means helping them obtain the benefits they earned through their service, or sometimes just being there to listen.
“I love veterans,” he said. “I love having veterans come in here. I have veterans that come in just to sit and talk and they come in to visit. I’ve got a couple veterans that come by and say, ‘no, man, you’re better than any therapist around.’ And it’s nothing but sharing stuff with veterans. We just sit and talk.”
But Contreras also can help veterans obtain benefits that they sometimes aren’t even aware they may qualify for.
“The main thing with this office is, it’s an outreach for veterans,” Contreras said. “This office is fully accredited through American Legion, VFW, Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans Affairs. So we can do any and everything that we need to do for a veteran. Predominantly what we work with is disability claims. There’s veterans that come in that have no idea that this disability could even be compensated. And when they come in, I sit and try to find as much stuff as I can that they don’t even know that they can get compensation for. They don’t have any idea. It’s been pretty successful. I think this office’s success rate as far as getting at least some portion of disability claims is around 80 percent. That’s not putting a feather in anybody’s cap. It’s all about being able to come in here and sit down and work with them. And it’s just stuff that veterans didn’t know.”
Carroll County has one of the highest per-capita veteran populations in Arkansas and Contreras said the workload of the local office has increased significantly over the past couple of years. That mirrors the trend around the United States, especially since the signing of the 2022 “PACT Act.”
The PACT Act, whose formal title is the Sgt. 1st Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, provides that a litany of chronic conditions and illnesses are presumed to be caused by breathing toxins from open burn pits or exposure to other hazards, including Agent Orange and radiation.
“Everyone’s caseload around the state has increased a lot because of the PACT Act,” Contreras said. “A lot of veterans are coming in just asking about the PACT Act and then they leave with a claim being filed.”
For Contreras, being able to help his fellow veterans is especially gratifying.
“I’d say this is the best job I’ve ever had, just because you get to help the veterans,” he said. “You get to do things for them. You get to talk to them and you get to care about their behavioral health, their mental well-being. I get quite a few veterans that are just kind of at their wit’s end. They don’t know how to, what do you do next, when they first get out. And I can speak to that, honestly, because of the fact that when you first get out, it’s like, what do I do now? And there’s a lot of veterans that come in here and that’s all they want to do is just get some stuff off their chest and that’s all fine and good. And then we can get them help.”
And if Contreras isn’t able to directly help a veteran himself, he has access to other resources.
“This office works with the VA pretty close as behavioral health, their physical health, their medical health,” he said. “They’ve got a faithbased outreach that’s going on with the VA that’s kind of a coalition of pastors and different church organizations.”
The veterans service office is located in the Eastern District Courthouse in Berryville, tucked into a quiet corner just off the lobby. The office formerly was located in the courthouse’s lower level but was moved to the ground level because officials realized that getting downstairs could be difficult for veterans with mobility issues. Contreras said he’s able to modify the office space, such as installing sound-proofing, to provide a safe, comfortable place for veterans.
“Sam Barr and David Writer, the two (county) judges that I’ve worked under here, whatever we need for this office, they’re right on top of it. Sam Barr was a huge fan of veterans,” Contreras said. “David Writer is a huge fan of veterans and those guys work great with this office.”
The veterans service office is open Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office telephone number is 870-423-4000 and the email address is cvso@carrollcounty.us.
