“There are lots of changes coming, so get used to it!” the new VA Secretary Doug Collins said with a smirk after he explained the VA will be cutting 80,000 civil servants. He promised that services to our veterans would be as good as ever… right before he said the “get used to it” part.

My husband is a Vietnam-era veteran. He served his country in the most thankless time in history for folks serving in the military. Now, he’s an ancient old veteran whose excellent medical care comes from the VA at Perrypoint, Maryland. His doctors and nurses there give him the highest level of care and they care for him with respect due a veteran. He experienced the same care and respect during a two-month stay in the Baltimore VA/University of Maryland hospital.

Just as important as the good quality care he receives is that respect he feels when he is at the VA for his appointments. He is always addressed as Veteran Tillman. Everyone from greeters, to receptionists, to doctors and nurses, talks to him as though he is a valued human. They laugh at his jokes. They treat him like he is an accepted member of the community. I have seen that this is vital to his health. In my training as a counselor, I know there is a name for this kind of health. It is called “the social determinants of health”. Without these social determinants, people do not do well medically.

And while I’m singing the praises of the VA system. Let me tell you about the Maryland VA’s caregiver program. Because I am my husband’s full-time caregiver, I need training and support. You simply cannot do caregiving without this. The VA provides caregiver courses online, caregiver coaching, plus weekly training and bi-weekly support groups. I have a stressful task as a caregiver, I really don’t know what I would do without the practical training I receive. AND the social determinants of health- the support groups.

Where I’m going with this is: how dare a couple of billionaires and their smirky VA Secretary threaten the well-being of my veteran and me? How dare they threaten the well-being of thousands of veterans who served their country while they did what…stayed home with bone spurs or avoided service because they were not born in the US?

I think this is a Constitutional issue. Veterans served their country with their lives and liberty. Their lives and “pursuit of happiness (well-being)”, depend on the nation keeping its promise of care. The Preamble of the Constitution, the Constitution’s enactment clause, promises this.

If you know a veteran or a veteran’s family member, or just care about the well-being of our nation, would you please write your elected officials and ask for intervention to stop the decimation of our VA system?

BTW- here’s an interview I did for the first caregiver training program after I completed it.