Sandy Sonju has been surrounded by veterans her entire life.  

Her dad served in the Korean War, and his brothers were World War II veterans. Two of her nine siblings served, along with aunts, uncles and cousins. Even her two children are in the National Guard.   

“As far as you can reach, I’ve got family members who are veterans,” she said. 

Growing up in Cut Bank, Montana, Sonju watched her father, injured in service, struggle to navigate the maze of government paperwork to obtain veterans’ benefits.  

After filing his claim to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, her father received notice that he had been denied certain benefits due to errors in his paperwork. Living in a small, rural city, he’d had to drive three hours south to Helena in the winter for doctor’s appointments.  

“That was pretty hard on the family,” Sonju said. “Him and my mom would just be scratching their heads at the dinner table, trying to figure out how to do all of this.”  

Now, Sonju is providing veterans the professional assistance that her father didn’t have.   

For nearly three years, Sonju has served as a Veterans of Foreign Wars Accredited Service Officer with the Montana Department of Military Affairs, helping veterans navigate the complicated procedure of filing claims to receive government benefits.  

“It’s not a career. It’s more of a purpose and a passion,” Sonju said. “It really feels like all roads led here.”  

But before she was helping veterans, Sonju embarked on various career paths, the first of which was the Army.   

“I’d like to say it was because of my patriotic duty, but it was to help pay for college,” she said. 

When Sonju turned 20 years old in basic training, her senior drill sergeant made her do push-ups over a Snickers bar he placed on the ground as a “birthday present.” Then he ate it in front of her.  

“At least I got to smell it,” she laughed.  

Sonju served in Karlsruhe, Germany, for three years as a military police officer. And then her rank changed “from Specialist Four to mom” after having her son.  

While her ex-husband kept serving in the military, Sonju was caring for her family.  

“[I’m] very proud of my experience as a support system, almost as much as I am proud of my veteran status,” she said. "I didn’t go deploy anywhere; it was peace time. I always feel like I didn’t serve the way I should have as a veteran, but I wanted to make up for that as the family support.”  

After leaving the military, Sonju found work as a teacher and later as a recruiter, licensor and trainer for foster parents. Although she enjoyed continuing to support her community in those roles, finding work with the Veterans of Foreign Wars was a blessing, Sonju said.  

“I know how much support veterans need in filing claims and finding an advocate. So when I applied for the job, it almost to me felt like I should be paying them for the honor of doing this,” she said.  

Sonju works out of the local office off U.S. 93 North but visits Libby, Troy and Eureka several times a month to assist veterans in more rural areas where support is scarcer. The other local officers also travel to surrounding communities.   

“No veteran is left behind, is what we’re trying to get to,” she said. “We try to reach every little nook and corner.”  

The three other Veteran Service Officers, office supervisor and regional supervisor each serve around four veterans per day. Sonju encouraged clients to call ahead to schedule an appointment.  

The outreach she does outside of Kalispell, however, is conducted on a walk-in basis, which often brings in heavy foot traffic. Sonju has assisted as many as 28 veterans in just one afternoon in Libby.   

“It’s not uncommon for our office to deal with over 250 to 300 claims a month,” she said. 

The volume is no surprise, considering Montana ranks among the top states in the country for veterans per capita. 

As of September 2023, there were about 85,000 veterans in the state, of those roughly 47% were over the age of 65. Around 32% were between 40 and 65 years old, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  

Sonju aims to help veterans receive the most benefits they can qualify for by helping craft a fully developed claim before sending it through the government system.   

“The biggest thing we do is that we help veterans file disability claims, and we also provide resources for where they can go to get the help if we can’t provide it,” she said. 

Because her job is accredited through the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Montana Veterans Affairs Division, American Legion and trained through Veterans of Affairs, “we have a lot of resources that most people that are filing the claim don’t have,” Sonju said.  

Being able to effectively help veterans receive benefits takes an adept understanding of case law, medical reports and research. Sonju must also keep aware of any new or changing legislation.  

“It’s important because sometimes a veteran will say something, just an offhand remark, and your radar will pick up, like, I know a certain benefit that you’re qualified for that you didn’t know about,” she said.  

Because the complicated process can be frustrating, Sonju said many veterans come into the office on the defensive and may have trouble admitting ailments, so it's important to approach issues with understanding.  

“We’re taught from day one, rub some dirt in it and move on. It’s a matter of being able to understand and kind of get them to the place where they can talk about their insecurities,” Sonju said.  

Since taking the job in 2023, Sonju’s love for learning how to navigate government law and procedures has not faded.  

“I was thinking when I was in my 20s and 30s that at 60, I would be on the way down, but I still feel like I’m on the up,” she said.  

Despite leaving the Army years ago, Sonju continues to feel a sense of camaraderie among the veterans she assists. 

“The reason that I do is baseline is because it’s a way of paying back my dad. But there is also the intrinsic reward of helping someone who may not know what help they needed,” she said.  

Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at 758-4407 and [email protected].