Relatively new to the island of Guam, Misty Sharp is a vocational rehabilitation counselor at the Guam Veterans Affairs office.

Part of her day-to-day tasks involve assisting veterans to navigate through situations such as time differences, backlogs, hiring delays, and uncertain waits for correspondences. “This is actually my dream job,” Sharp said. “We could use some new staff, I have veterans from all over the pacific.”

It is common knowledge of the complaint’s veterans have regarding the Veterans Affairs in Micronesia. The Veterans Affairs on Guam operates through the system in Honolulu, 16 hours behind in time difference.

Sharp must wait until the next day to have files verified causing an imbricate of waiting and rushing for veterans relying on them.

“I come to work early every day to catch Honolulu before they close up to correlate accordingly,” Sharp said.

“That’s what I love about this job, that I’m helping veterans,” Sharp said. “It does make it harder knowing they are relying on me, so I don’t want to make mistakes.”

Although Guam veterans cannot vote and must cross thousands of miles to Hawaii to get adequate in-patient care, lawmakers and supporters fight consistently for our veterans. “When I went in it was quick and painless, Ms. Sharp handled my paperwork in five minutes” said Joseph Lim, a veteran and student at UOG.

Sharp is from a military family and she is familiar to the woes of veterans all too well. Prior to her current position, Sharp also worked federal jobs for five years.

“I wish veterans were more informed about their benefits, most of them  fall through the cracks.” Sharp said. “I welcome all veterans to come in with an open mind, and I’ll sit down and explain everything to them, I just want veterans to know I am here for them.”