Tag: veterans’ healthcare

Forever Honoring Our Veterans 

Veterans Day on November 11 honors all who served in the U.S. armed forces. The Veterans Administration provides crucial health care and education through the VHA system. Personal stories highlight the deep bonds between veterans and their families.

updated November 4, 2024

In the United States, we reserve Veterans Day, November 11, the Armistice of World War I,   to remember and honor all who do or have served in our armed forces. Other countries have similar observances.

The Veterans Administration provides benefits to veterans including health care. The VA Health Care System, or VHA,  one of the largest in the world, cares for veterans’ health and provides medical education and research.

If you have ever received care from a physician trained in the United States, that doctor likely learned from a veteran in a VHA facility. So our veterans continue to serve even after they leave military service. 

Bronze sculpture of three people in a park, with one person cradling another while a third stands behind them.
The Vietnam Women’s Memorial was established to honor the 265,000 military and civilian women who served around the world during the Vietnam War. photo by Dr. Aletha

Wounded Veteran’s Therapy Dog Serves as Best Man at Wedding

I believe your heart will be touched by this story about the special relationship between a wounded veteran and his therapy dog. Mine certainly was.

“It’s been quite a journey for U.S. Army veteran Justin Lansford and his canine companion, Gabe.

In 2012, Lansford lost his left leg in an IED explosion in Afghanistan.

This past weekend, Gabe had his paws full with an entirely new slew of responsibilities, serving as the best man in Lansford’s wedding to longtime girlfriend, Carol Balmes.”

Veteran wearing a black vest with a “Never Forget” patch and a memorial eagle emblem honoring fallen heroes.
photo by Dr. Aletha

My husband served in the Army and was deployed to Vietnam in the 1970s. Here is his story.

From bullets to blessings-one man’s journey to recovery from war

“I didn’t want to ever go to Vietnam again when I came home in 1972 after a one-year tour of duty with the United States Army. I was stationed with the Americal Division, 3/18 Field Artillery Battalion near Tra Bong, a major village located about 25 miles west of Chu Lai, the headquarters of the Americal Division, on “China Beach” at the South China Sea.”

Two people pose in front of a military statue in a tree-lined park.
Raymond and I at the Vietnam Veteran Memorial in Washington, DC

Memorial Day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Angel Fire, New Mexico–

A special Memorial Day observance at a unique veterans’ memorial

statue of a soldier in a small flower bed
Doug Scott Sculpture at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,Angel Fire New Mexico; I am kneeling in the background, viewing the veterans’ memorial walkway; Photo by Raymond Oglesby

A veteran dishes out love–

personal reflections from a Vietnam veteran

“The people around us are starving for love and we need to unlock our pantry and see to it that everybody gets a belly full.”

 

clowns entertain Vietnamese people
Billy and Jingles, a veteran and his wife, entertain at a medical clinic in Vietnam
(photo by Dr. Aletha)

Exploring the HEART of Health

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Watercress Words by Dr. Aletha

Dr. Aletha