Visit A Veteran..

by Valis 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  Valis

  I'm going this afternoon to see my uncle at the VA today and I just thought I would post what happened last time and offer a suggestion..

  The VA hospital is probably one of the most disgusting place one could visit...kind of like a junk yard for the war machines that gave all they had and ended up wrecks. Mangled bodies missing limbs and the wracked frames, loneliness and unwanted solitude. Well my visit was good and then I went out to smoke...The vets outside talked my ear off for ten minutes and they thought ,when I went to go back inside for more visiting, that I was bored with them....I kindly explained no that I just needed to get back to my visit...I guess to make a long story short I would just say that it wouldn't hurt any of you to go and visit a veteran..even if you don't know them...You can arrange to do so through your local VA or through a local nursing home. Telling them you you care means a lot and it brightens what would ordinarily be a bleak and desolate day. Many of them spend whole days and weeks and probably months without a visit from anyone.. Its hard to go into those places, and I even had some hesitation just because it isn't pleasant, but after the first time you get used to it and is a lot easier on the eyes and the emotions. Have a good day everyone and don't don't be ascared..*LOL*

  Sincerely,

  District Overbeer
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  outnfree

  What a nice suggestion, Valis! You are such a decent and kind feller!

  My "local" VA hospital is about an hour away, but I'm thinking that perhaps I could make a twice yearly journey there as it's not much farther than the Circuit Assembly Hall I used to steel myself to visit twice a year...

  out
• 

  dottie

  Valis...I hope that things are well with your uncle

  I agree totally with you. At the beginning of this semester my first clinical experience was working at a Veterans Hospital. At first, I was a bit scared because I was going to be helping so many "old men" and looking after "many" aspects of their um...ahem..."care". Once I got a chance to sit with a few and get to know them, I fell in love instantly. They love to sit and talk and just bullshit in general. One resident was a fiesty 99 yr old guy, who would sing to us student nurses, and cause trouble with the other residents. A couple of his neighbors said that he "ain't gonna live to see 100 if he keeps this up!"

  My experience there will be one to remember forever. My favourite part of the whole experience was just sitting and "listening". Not alot of people "listen" to that generation much anymore, and it is times like these, especially with the war going on, that we need to stop and make time for this treasured generation, because there are not alot left.

  There are plenty of homes out there that like to have volunteers come in and visit with the residents. Even if you go in and read the paper, books or just bullshit about sports. Spend time with them and hear what they have to say...you could learn something new.

  Dottie
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  Valis

  thanks ladies....eh..I'm going back tomorrow after work...also I was just going to mention dropping of magazines or contributions, eheh **LOL* NOT THOSE ragazines!, is always welcome there too.

  ALABAMA ALASKA ARIZONA ARKANSAS CALIFORNIA COLORADO
  CONNECTICUT DELAWARE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FLORIDA GEORGIA HAWAII
  IDAHO ILLINOIS INDIANA IOWA KANSAS KENTUCKY
  LOUISIANA MAINE MARYLAND MASSACHUSETTS MICHIGAN MINNESOTA
  MISSISSIPPI MISSOURI MONTANA NEBRASKA NEVADA NEW HAMPSHIRE
  NEW JERSEY NEW MEXICO NEW YORK NORTH CAROLINA
  NORTH DAKOTA OHIO OKLAHOMA OREGON PENNSYLVANIA PHILIPPINES
  PUERTO RICO, COMMONWEALTH OF (Includes the U.S. Virgin Islands)
  RHODE ISLAND SOUTH CAROLINA SOUTH DAKOTA TENNESSEE TEXAS
  UTAH VERMONT VIRGINIA VIRGIN ISLANDS WASHINGTON
  WEST VIRGINIA WISCONSIN WYOMING

  Sincerely,

  District Overbeer
• 

  joannadandy

  Thanks for this post Valis. I couldn't agree more.

  When my great uncle was very ill I spent several weekends at the local VA hospital visiting with several of them. It was always a great trip. Since he passed away I have not been back, and that is a mistake on my part...I will for sure look into doing this...thanks for the suggestion.
• 

  rmayer32

  What is a Vet? He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day and making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel. He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel. She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang. He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back AT ALL. He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs. He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand. He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by. He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep. He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come. He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs. He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded. Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU." Remember November 11th is Veterans Day. "It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protester to burn the flag." Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC

  
  
  I think that says it all.

  -Rick
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  Double Edge

  Great posts. I will make it a point to check out the V.A. hospital in West L.A. Thanks.
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  wednesday

  u are a nice person , valis. I used to always visit with others when i went to see my mom. I know how they fell, loney and needing to talk. Humans need the company of other humans, which is why what the WTS does to people in the form of shunning , so bad.