Disabled American Veterans department service officer Mark Melton helps nearly 200 veterans with their benefits claims and paperwork each month out of his office at the American Lake VA.

Every once in a while, Vietnam and Korean War veterans will meet with Melton and try to file a claim, despite the fact their respective wars ended more than 20 years ago.

"They say they didn't bother to file a claim when their war ended because they didn't want to take anything away from someone more deserving," Melton said. "I tell them, ‘You're not taking away anything from anyone.'"

In those veterans' response is a message for veterans of newer conflicts and those who've recently separated.

"The longer you wait the harder it is to file," said Melton, a Navy veteran who also serves as the commander of the local DAV Chapter 18 in Lakewood.

No matter if it's a veteran from the Vietnam War or the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, they all have one thing in common, Melton said.

"They deserve benefits," he said.

And the DAV is there to help them. Forty DAV transition service officers are regulars at 144 military installations - including Joint Base Lewis-McChord, McChord Field, Naval Base Kitsap and Naval Station Everett - participating in the joint VA-DOD Benefits Delivery and Discharge Program, which provides transition assistance to separating service members who incurred disabilities related to their military service.

DAV National Commander Wallace E. "Wally" Tyson called DAV's contribution a vital link to the newest generation of disabled veterans.

"We want to get to those veterans before they are released from active duty so we can help get them on a path toward reinstituting a life for themselves and making sure they know what benefits are available to them and their families," he told American Forces Press Service recently.

As partners in military transition assistance programs and disability transition assistance programs, DAV transition service officers conduct or participate in pre-discharge briefings, review wounded warriors' treatment records on request and confer with Defense and Labor Department officials and other participants in the discharge process.

The program, Tyson said, enables DAV to help servicemembers through the process of developing evidence, completing applications and prosecuting claims for veterans benefits administered under federal, state and local laws.

But one of the biggest benefits of the effort, he added, is ensuring that separating service members don't find themselves in a situation where their military benefits are discontinued and VA benefits have not yet started.

That's exactly why Melton recommends newly separated servicemembers at the very least get to the VA medical center, enroll, and get an ID card.

"That way they have medical coverage after they separate," Melton said.

DAV offers a broad range of services to disabled veterans, all at no charge, thanks in large part to an army of more than 14,000 volunteers. Some drive a fleet of more than 1,400 vans, transporting veterans to VA medical centers, supermarkets or even barber shops. Others volunteer their services at VA medical facilities and regional clinics.

In addition, a cadre of highly trained national service officers, all with wartime-service-connected disabilities, reviews veterans' claims and ensures veterans know what benefits and services they're entitled to.

"Our whole mission is to help them live a better life," Melton said.

During 2010 alone, DAV officers interviewed almost 185,000 veterans and their families, according to Tyson. As a result, they filed more than 250,000 new claims for benefits, obtaining $5.1 billion in new and retroactive benefits for the disabled veterans they represented.

Information from an American Forces Press Service report was used in this article.