SAUGUS — Saugus’ new Veterans Services Officer Andrew Biggio has hit the ground running since his office opened up in Town Hall last month.
Biggio started working in Saugus toward the end of the summer and worked mostly out of Wakefield as part of a new regional service with Saugus, Wakefield and Melrose.
After setting up shop in a temporary office in the Town Hall Annex in Saugus, Biggio finally moved into his own office in Town Hall after a ceremony in December.
“My responsibilities are anything at all concerning veterans issues,” said Biggio. “I can work as a go-between between me and the VA. Most of the time I’m there to represent what Massachusetts Veterans Services can do for them. It’s a whole different system than the VA.”
Biggio said he can help with anything from financial assistance and injury claims to death and burial benefits for any veteran no matter how old or when he or she served.
“I can help them get compensated by the VA, help people do home loans, annuities, helping anyone that wants to enroll in school using their GI Bill,” said Biggio.
Originally from Everett, Biggio lives in Winthrop and said Saugus has been a great place to work so far. And now that he’s settled in at Town Hall, things are busier than ever.
“I went to Malden Catholic with a lot kids from Saugus that are veterans now,” said Biggio. “I have a lot of people randomly stopping in to ask questions and now that they see a light on in there and the door open ”¦ they’re more curious and more ambitious to get help.”
Biggio, a Marine Corps sergeant, served in Iraq in 2008 and Afghanistan in 2011 as an infantry rifleman.
When he left the service, Biggio said he wanted to help veterans because so many were “clueless” about their benefits.
“A lot of men and women were uneducated about what benefits are out there,” he said.
Biggio’s first foray into helping his fellow veterans came three years ago when he started the Boston Wounded Vet Run, a motorcycle ride from Everett to East Boston which is followed by a concert and free food.
“I started doing motorcycle charity runs to help with housing modifications that the VA wouldn’t pay for,” said Biggio, who rides a Harley Davidson. “It’s from that to people saying, ‘Well, you’re helping the wounded, how can you help me with school or how can you help me with work?’ I started advocating for veterans on my own and when the job became available online I applied and I got it.”
Biggio said his top goal is to get to all the veterans who have been waiting for immediate help.
“Just basic text book veterans benefits,” said Biggio. “As soon as I get comfortable and the wave of veterans dies down of people who need immediate help, I want to start doing events in the town and help out with Memorial Day and make it a bigger event.”
From there, Biggio has made some long-term goals, like looking into a permanent sign on Route 1 thanking veterans on behalf of Saugus.
“The town of Saugus is one of the more famous towns in Massachusetts because everyone knows about Route 1,” said Biggio. “I’d like to get some type of proper sign to thank all veterans that travel on Route 1. When certain service members were coming home I saw they were strapping signs to the overpass and they’d fall off into the highway. If you had a permanent sign, all these people that drive by will say, ‘Wow. Saugus did that.’ And they might get the idea too.”
Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].
