Disaster relief: aids disabled veterans hit by Kansas tornado.

An entire town was just gone. Amazingly, though, the May 4 tornado that leveled Greensburg, Kan., killed just 10 of the town's 1,400 residents. Amazing because weather experts said it was an F5 category storm, the highest intensity rating on the Fujita scale, and was a mile and a half wide.

And while the storm's survivors--and the entire nation, for that matter--tried to come to grips with the shock and the devastation, DAV National Service Officer (NSO) Allen W. Gumpenberger had a very personal reaction to the tragedy. Greensburg was ... no still is ... his hometown.

"Soon after news of the tornado reached us here at National Service and Legislative Headquarters, the wheels were put in motion to deploy a Mobile Service Office (MSO) from Missouri to the disaster area," said National Service Director Randy Reese. "We had a plan in place, a National Service Office about 100 miles away and soon had a package of disaster relief vouchers on their way to aid disabled veterans and their families."

National Service Office Supervisor Gary J. Prescott and NSO Trainee Kenneth L. Anderson from the DAV's Wichita office were assigned to disaster relief efforts in Greensburg and surrounding Kiowa County. They were joined by Department Service Officer Roger Johnson, from St. Louis, Mo., who delivered the MSO.

"Whenever tragedies such as the Greensburg tornado strike, the DAV is always ready and able to aid disabled veterans and their families who need immediate financial assistance," said National Adjutant Arthur H. Wilson. "It is a testament to our commitment to service, our legacy of helping our fellow disabled veterans in their hour of need."

Gumpenberger, who is supervisor of the DAV National Service Office in Newington, Conn., was relieved to learn that his parents and other relatives back in Greensburg had escaped serious injury, even though they lost their homes to the storm. But since he has such close ties to the Greensburg, community, he felt it was his duty to help his fellow disabled veterans and their families who were victims of the storm. So he volunteered to join Prescott's team.

"Allen was a welcome addition to our disaster relief efforts because of his knowledge of the Greensburg area and local contacts," said Prescott. "We all worked very well together and had very good support from the VA, the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army, who also were on hand to assist storm victims."

Prescott said he was amazed to see just how destructive the tornado had been and marveled at how few people had been killed or seriously injured. Ninety percent of the buildings in town had been destroyed. People had lost everything; their cars, personal belongings. "In spite of the disaster, the people were in good spirits," he said. "They're going to be rebuilding for a long time to come."

"The DAV disaster relief team spent a week in Greensburg to aid disabled veterans, providing short-term financial aid and assistance with benefits claims. The VA cooperated with us all along the way. They helped identify disabled veterans, and we had a direct phone line to someone at the VA to answer our questions whenever we needed it," Prescott said.

"Our NSOs were able to verify an applicant's status as a service-connected disabled veteran through the VA within minutes, which helped speed the process when storm victims came to them for our assistance," said Reese.

Staff from the VA medical center and regional office in Wichita were deployed to the area to fill prescriptions, provide medical equipment and ensure that disability compensation payments were uninterrupted. "According to the Veterans Benefits Administration, there were 21 service-connected veterans in town, and we distributed 15 disaster relief vouchers," said Gumpenberger. "So, I feel we made a really good faith effort to meet and assist these veterans."

Disabled veterans and their families can use those disaster relief grants to buy food, clothing, and temporary shelter or to obtain relief from injury, illness or personal loss resulting from natural catastrophes that are not covered by insurance or other relief agencies.

In addition to distributing disaster relief grants, Prescott said his team had transported one veteran to the Wichita VA medical center for care and assisted several veterans in filing claims for disability compensation.

"All in all, we were able to offer some measure of relief to those disabled veterans and their families who survived such a horrific disaster," said Reese.

Since the May 4 tornado that destroyed much of Greensburg, state and federal aid is helping those residents and businesses who remain to rebuild. And as NSO Gumpenberger notes, the storm and its aftermath are not the end, but the beginning of a "new chapter for my hometown."