Volunteering at the VA

[WWhiskey]

 I got out of the Army in December of 1989, In 1991 I ended up in the VA with Cardio myopathy ,, An Enlarged heart.
Over the last 22 years I've spent over a year in and out of different VA hospitals in total,  i was even on a heart Transplant list for a while, I've had two major heart attacks and a little over a year ago got a pacer defibrillator installed, all thanks to the VA,, I met My wife at the VA, she is retired Air Force, she still works there today!

Now that I've retired,, ( not by choice again)  I decided I needed a little more structure in my life, so i will be driving the van some, and working in the clinics with my wife, spending time with other Vets, paying it back a bit!!!
Last year my VA had a little over 450 volunteers, the total hours spent by these people totaled to over 1 million dollars in free help to the hospital, That's a lot!,, they also donated over $100,000, to the hospital during the same year.

If your bored,, try it sometime, I've met some of the most amazing people during my 22 year adventure,  guys who stormed Normandy, guys who bailed out of B-17's, some of which escaped, others who got captured and were POW's, fighter pilots, Tankers, medics,,  those stories help me to remember, my problems are nothing!!!!  Yes I served,, yes I got shot at ,, (our own infantry guys!!! but still  )  the Guys who jumped from the planes had great stories,, spending weeks in France, trying not to be captured,, I'll never forget those, or the men who told them!  so before It's to late,, go volunteer for a little,, they will take you  for as little as a day a month all the way up to 5 days a week, not that many WW2 vets left, but plenty others that will still tell you all about other great adventures!

[-ammo-]

Frickin Awesome Whiskey!   

[Brooke]

Way to go, WWhiskey! 

[Hap]

 

[WWhiskey]

Thanks guys!!

[Shifty]

Thanks WWhiskey. 

[LCADolby]

Welcome to the volunteer sector 

[Butcher]

I volunteer as well for the VA, here in Tampa Florida they lack drivers - some vets don't have transportation and every other saturday I drive 2-3 to the VA and back home.
http://www.tampa.va.gov/giving/
Here's the website if anyone lives in the central florida area, you don't have to drive there are plenty other volunteer places to go, just the chats are worth every minute of it (besides up to an hour drive sometime you get plenty of time to get to know someone).

/last vet I talked too was getting his teeth checked out, he broke one tooth landing on Guam and had to get it fixed, his first trip to the VA to have it looked at, otherwise he had all his original teeth except for that one broken - DAMN good shape and skippy for being 92 years old!

[RotBaron]

I've been volunteering at our VA for almost a year. It's a very rewarding experience for me.

There are some days though that I don't feel the patients are the priority...which is sad and wrong. Don't get me wrong, there are some really great ppl working here, they truly care, and give it their all.  It's just too bad it isn't almost all of them. VA employee's (all Fed agencies) have benefits unheard of in the private sector, some of them need to be reminded of that. Some (who did not serve) could use to be reminded too if it weren't for Vets putting their tail on the line, these jobs wouldn't be here.

 

[Rich46yo]

Thats an outstanding story Whiskey. It really shows the amount of class you have.

Understand a fathers pride when I learned last week that my own son, a USAF troop, volunteered to help veterans in his spare time up in ND. In fact he was regaling them with his piano playing skills last week.

I can honestly say the only time I ever felt I was in something bigger then myself is when I was in the armed services. I find your story inspirational.

[WWhiskey]

Thank you sir!  Glad to hear about your son as well!