By Betsy Finklea
Dillon County has a new Veterans Affairs (VA) Officer.
Valerie Graves took over her new position effective July 1st.
Graves said her main focus will continue to be to help the veterans and help them get the assistance and services they need.

Graves said they pledge to treat veterans and their families with “courtesy, compassion, and respect at all times.” Graves said they “have a compassionate understanding of the problems which confront veterans, widows, widowers, and children.”
Among the areas where the Veterans Affairs Office can assist are service-connected compensation, non-service connected pension, improved death pension, education/training, vocational rehabilitation and employment, VA home loan certificates, VA burial benefits, dependents and survivors benefits, VA life insurance, VA healthcare, VA benefits and services for selected reserve and National Guard members, and requesting military service discharges, personnel records, health record, and medals.
Graves herself served in the Army and National Guard for 18 years. She was recruited by Jerry Huggins, who she credits with starting her military career. Col. Stacey Griffin and Bill Huggins helped her get a waiver to get in because she was too short and didn’t weigh enough.
On February 1, 1999, Graves came to the Dillon County Veterans Office as a secretary. She earned her accreditations and eventually became the Veterans Affairs Assistant. She said she was trained by the best, former VA Officer Jerry Huggins, who recently retired after 20 years of service.

Graves said she “loves the job.” In addition to the fact that she is a veteran, her brother is a veteran and her daughter is a veteran. Her church, New Faith Missionary Baptist Church, has a veterans’ ministry, and her pastor, Rev. Frankie Thomas, is a veteran. The New Faith Veterans Ministry was formed after Mrs. Magnolia Williams gave Graves so much guidance. Her family church, Manning Baptist Church, also has a veterans’ ministry.
Graves has two children, Antonio and Alisha, and five grandchildren who she calls the A-team due to the fact that all of them have names that begin with the letter “A”.
Graves is also participating in two local veterans groups. The first, Help For Veterans, meets every third Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the American Legion Hut. They are planning a health fair on October 19th from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. at the City of Dillon Wellness Center. She said the group is working to get a number of vendors, and she hopes everyone will come out and support this event.
The other group is FITT (Families In This Together). She said this is a great outreach organization. More information can be found on their page on Facebook®.
Graves invites all who need veterans services to stop by her office located on the third floor of the Dillon City County Complex.
“I would like to thank all my brothers for their support and Pastor Michael Goings for encouraging me and the delegation for choosing me,” said Graves. She is very appreciative of the opportunity to serve the veterans of Dillon County.