5-27-2024
Veterans Not Forgotten
I remember riding my bike down the streets of my hometown Boise, Idaho. Quite often my three brothers and I would ride to see if we could get a free coke at the Coca-Cola bottling plant in the middle of the downtown area.
In the 1960s we would ride over to the old Fort Boise area that houses the Boise VA Medical Center where dad spent several months in rehab after his knee removal surgery. I remember being with dad, making hotpad pot holders or watching movies in the theatre. What has really impressed me were the WWII and Korean War veterans scarred in the wars they fought with physical and mental issues that came home with them.
Oh I’ve been back to the BVAMC quite a few times in the days after retiring from the Army. Sometimes when I’d go home to check on the folks I’d have to go to the ER for treatment on my back. Other times I’d be taking dad in for his primary doctor appointments. Each time when I walked the floors or wards or even just the hallways my mind always came back to those guys who came back scarred or never came back at all.
Next to the BVAMC is one of the Idaho State Veterans Homes filled to capacity with men and women who were incapable of living on their own, needed 24-7-365 medical care or just living out their last days. There are two person rooms with a shared toilet between two rooms. Everyone has their own space but privacy is always an issue. Meals are eaten in the cafeteria or plated to their rooms if necessary. Activities are in the activity room, where playing cards, dominoes, computer and even a piano are available. This is where a majority of family visits occur. Holiday events and weekly bingo are held in the cafeteria. For the most part their care is more than adequate. However it’s the quality of life that suffers when veterans wait down by the coffee shop for family that never comes.
Dad has passed on now, as have a great many of our WWII, Korean and my fellow Vietnam War veterans. You can go into any VA Hospital or care facility, local state veterans’ homes and nursing homes everywhere and you see the loneliness in their eyes that reflect the emptiness inside. For veterans who have lost comrades in battle the question may become why not me?
I don’t have answers to the mystery of life, but it could be that God isn’t finished with you yet. It may be time to tell your story, write it down or transcribe your verbalization of your life experiences for family, friends and others?
I’ve spent a fair amount of time after my military service reaching out to other veterans, providing forums for them to talk about their time in uniform, tell their stories to those who were there, which provide a means of verification, that our time wasn’t just something we dreamed up.
Today is Memorial Day 2024, a time to remember whose who died wearing the uniform of the United States military. Take a moment to remember and honor them. When you see the poppies or the US Flags adorning the gravesites of veterans just know that each one gave their life for FREEDOM. – RTM
The Real Truckmaster 