I have personally witnessed two heartbreaking incidents at emergency rooms involving veterans. During the first incident, the man in the room next door kept hollering for his wife even though he came in alone and left alone. Through the thin curtain dividing the rooms we heard him tell the nurse that he was a disabled vet. He said he came in the ambulance wearing only a robe, and he would have to walk home because he didn’t even have bus fare. The staff gave him bus fare, clothes, socks, and shoes so he could go home in dignity. Apparently they keep a supply of clothes to have on hand for just such an occasion.

During another visit to the emergency room, a Vietnam veteran down the hall became very agitated and began to yell about his helicopter going down. How tragic that over forty years later he is daily reliving the trauma. The staff was very patient in dealing with him. I greatly admired the doctors and nurses in both situations for treating these veterans with the compassion and respect they deserve.