I’ve been a military history enthusiast for years, so I’ve always been eager to learn more about America’s military past and the figures who participated in it. And what better source than the men and women who were actually on the scene?
Getting to speak with a veteran of our country’s foreign wars is always a privilege. One of the latest stories I wrote involved a telephone interview with a sergeant serving in Iraq; his unit provides not only music for formal occasions, but a heavy metal band — The Four Horsemen of the Iraqalyse — to entertain Americans who are thousands of miles from home.
Other interviews stand out in my mind. I still remember the day when a Coast Guard veteran came into the newsroom the day before the 50th anniversary of the invasion of Iwo Jima. He had helped land Marines on that black sand beach, and he remembered attacks by kamikaze suicide pilots and recalled hearing how many of the Marines he had helped land only days before were either wounded or lost in that terrible battle.
I could keep going on. One Marine veteran of World War II told me about the invasion of Tarawa, a small island the Japanese defended furiously. A propaganda map the Marines found there showed how the Japanese Empire and Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich planned to divide a conquered United States. An Army Ranger veteran told me about hitting the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, and spending a cold night in a cliffside cave after being wounded by a German grenade; you could still see the shrapnel scars on his legs.
Each time I hear the story of a veteran of any war, I wonder how the heck they endured that experience. They had to spend years away from home and family and endure combat, physical privation and emotional distress we can only imagine. I never tell a veteran “I know how you feel” because I can’t know those experiences in the same intimate way they know it. There are some experiences words can only begin to convey.
When these veterans come home, they still have needs, and one primary need is medical care. They have served their country, so they deserved some help in return. One project now seeking support could help local veterans.
Work is now underway to establish a veteran’s clinic in Mercer County. One local veterans advocate, Al Hancock, told me about how this is needed and how veterans in both Mercer and McDowell counties would benefit from having a clinic where they could go for basic medical services. Veterans now have to drive all the way to Beckley if they want care from the Veterans Administration.
Local governments are already lending their support. The Princeton City Council voted this week to draft a letter of support for the clinic project, and the Mercer County Commission has voted to do the same.
It’s been estimated that more than 9,000 veterans live in the Mercer and McDowell area, surely more than enough to justify the creation of a clinic. Once the 2010 Census is finished, the count will likely reveal even more veterans. Personnel returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan will add even more to the local veterans roster.
Possible sites include the area where the new Mercer County Heath Department building will be constructed in Green Valley or the medical office building next door to the former St. Luke’s Hospital, now the Behavioral Health Pavilion of the Virginias. Both of those locations are right off U.S Route 460, a main highway through southern West Virginia.
A veterans clinic would provide basic health care such as blood pressure checks, treatment of minor injuries, health counseling for veterans and other services. It would be the same care available at most family health clinics.
Letters of support are being sent to U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. and other members of Congress. Hopefully, this project will get the attention it deserves, especially since it’s one that would not require major financial investments.
Veterans who experience hardships while serving their country deserve to have their health needs met once they come home. Making access to health care more convenient is not a great thing to ask. They were asked to make great sacrifices for their country and they have fulfilled that request. All they are asking for is some help in return.
Greg Jordan is a reporter with the Daily Telegraph. Contact him at gjordan@bdtonline.com
Columns
July 22, 2010
Area veterans are deserving of proposed Mercer County clinic
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