Letter to the Editor from James W. Rice

By: 
James W. Rice

Editor:

Veterans Day is a day to honor all the men and women, living and passed, who took up arms in defense of America.  Veterans Day, or Armistice Day as it was once known, was first celebrated in 1919, a day set aside to remember the sacrifices of our soldiers fighting what was thought to be “the war to end all wars.”
More than 100 years, and many conflicts later, we continue the solemn tradition of paying tribute to American Veterans who wore the uniforms of our Armed Forces. Their commitment to this nation — no matter where or when they served — was guided by one enduring American principle, freedom. 
That duty is especially important to those of us privileged to serve Veterans at VA.  So much so, that on the wall at the entrance of the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center are the words, Focused on Excellence – Putting Veterans First. 
The Veterans we serve live in one of the most rural areas of our country and are some of the best people our nation has produced. It is our duty to remember the sacrifices they’ve made and to make certain that our commitments to them and to their families are honored.
This past year our medical center opened a new community clinic in Gladstone to serve Delta County veterans closer to home; we were awarded the VA Best Patient Experience Award for the third year in a row, and the medical center broke ground on our primary care expansion project. All of this while keeping our veterans and employees safe by offering walk-in COVID-19 and flu vaccinations.
Caring for Veterans is the very heart of President Lincoln’s charge to Americans in his Second Inaugural Address near the end of our bloody Civil War. In 1865, President Lincoln directed us “to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” I’m honored to be a part of it. 
On behalf of the men and women of the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center and our community-based outpatient clinics, I thank our veterans for their service and sacrifice!

Sincerely,
James W. Rice
Oscar G. Johnson Medical Center Director

 

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