Final Respects

Cyril Miller

Last Wednesday I was sitting in this chair in the Community Living Center at the VA Hospital, having a massage, and I noticed the chaplain coming up the hallway in somewhat of a rush.
He went into the third ward and was there for about 15 or 20 minutes. Then I noticed the gurney, with a flag draped over the remains of one of our fallen brothers, who had just passed.

As they stepped into the hallway, I also noticed the complete silence. There was not a noise anywhere on the floor. The charge nurse and everybody had stopped

The chaplain brought the remains into the middle of the hallway. All the nurses who had attended this particular patient, and some of them who just worked on this floor, gathered around the remains and bowed their heads.

I'm sitting here observing this because I'd never seen this before. The chaplain said a prayer, the wife kissed the remains, and then they started down the hallway.
As they passed, everyone in the hallway - people who were coming and going, people going to the dining room - all the men saluted, and all the women put their hands over their hearts.

After they had left the area, I went up to one of the nurses and I said "I've never seen anything like this before. What's up? I've never seen anyone taken out like that.  It was so moving, so professional, so caring. The way everyone went over to hug the family and give their condolences, it was like they were a member of the family. These people here were like members of the families. This is amazing."

She said to me, "Mr. Miller, we take all of our losses. We grieve for every one that we lose,  and because they're passed, our responsibility does not stop. They are still our patient. We will treat them with dignity and respect and professionalism, because they have served their country and they deserve every respect and honor that we can give them."

That was powerful for me. I just wanted to share this with the readers, because I want you to know about those people on the CLC, and about the grief that they show when they lose someone. I'll never forget that. 

Spare Wheelchairs Find New Purpose

Lael Hepworth, Superintendent of the WA Soldiers Home, Marvin Burnett, Commander DAV Post 23 and Jeff Spoclstra, DAV Chapter 23.

The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs recently partnered with Veterans & Friends of Puget Sound and Chapter 23 (West Seattle) of the Disabled American Veterans to donate wheelchairs left behind by veterans or their families at the Washington Veterans Home, Retsil, or the Washington Soldiers Home, Orting.

DAV Chapter 23 was able to offer many of these wheelchairs to the VA Medical Center Seattle Campus where they will help transport veterans to and from appointments at the VAMC. 

WDVA intends to continue working with the Veterans & Friends of Puget Sound and DAV Chapter 23 to ensure any chairs donated by veterans or their family members are provided to organizations or veterans who need them.

Final Honors Rides Need You!

Join the Missing In America Project in honoring 15 Veterans by escorting their remains to  Tahoma National Cemetery on Saturday, March 8, 2014.
These 15 Veterans were recovered from Funeral Homes and Crematories in Western Washington, where their remains were unclaimed and unburied. You do not have to ride a motorcycle or be a veteran to join in the effort to provide final honors.

The ride starts at Lawless Harley-Davidson, 3715 E. Valley RD, Renton. KSU at 1100 AM, March 3, 2014. The ceremony at TNC begins at 1200.
There will be more Honor rides this year, as the Project has found and identified more of these forgotten heroes. Please join us in the search for our forgotten and abandoned Veterans. 

The purpose of the Missing In America Project is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans through the joint efforts of private, state and federal organizations. By working together, we can provide honor and respect to those who have served this country by securing them a final resting place. There are many jobs for volunteers on this project. Someone has to physically go to funeral homes, make inquiries, fill out forms and so forth - why not you?

To help, contact the Washington State Coordinator Bob Patrick at (206) 450-0620 or pgrider@comcast.net. You can also check out their website at http://www.miap.us/.

---REW

Why Saturday Is A Good Day To Visit The VA Hospital

Last Saturday I stopped by the VA Puget Sound Health System hospital in Seattle  to visit a friend. Here's some practical things that I learned: 

1. Parking: Usually when I stop by the hospital during the work week, I have to drive around the lot looking for an empty spot, often ending up in the neighborhood. There's always a line of cars waiting to offload patients by the main entrance. (The valets work fast, but it takes time to help people into wheelchairs!) However, on Saturday there were no lines, as you can see in the photo. I would therefore recommend that if you don't enjoy spending time hunting for a parking space, ask if you can arrange your appointment on a Saturday. It's not always possible, but what does it hurt to ask?
2. Information: I didn't know where my friend was in the complex; it has a lot of buildings and, frankly, they all look alike to me. This turned out not to be a problem. I went in the front door and asked the guard, who aimed me at the clerk in the room to the left. The clerk looked up Cyril's name in the computer, said he was on "3 East", and gave me directions. This was pretty straightforward and reasonably quick.
3. Navigation: The guard offered to show me where I was headed, but I felt I could find it on my own. I found out that the directions were correct but when you're told to take the next left, it is understood that it does not include any door marked"Construction Do Not Enter". There's a lot of improvements going on right now, and we just have to walk around it until it's done.

4. Waiting Area On 3 East

   No Waiting On Saturday? As I proceeded, I saw that the clinic waiting areas were all pretty empty. I am told that there's a limited clinic schedule on Saturday, and it looks if you can get an appointment then, you might not have much time in the waiting room.
5. Nomenclature: I was initially confused by the term "3 East". I knew I was in Building 1 and that there was a Building 10and a Building 100, but I couldn't find a Building 3 on the maps on the wall. Luckily a passing doctors straightened me out: "3 East" is the third floor of the building I was in! He went with me to the elevator and the problem was solved. 
6. Staff Attention: After this, my visit went pretty much like a visit to any other hospital. When I got off the elevator, I couldn't see a nursing station, but I went left around the corner and there it was. I asked for help locating my friend, and they directed me to his room in a friendly way.  I visited for about half an hour, during which time the place was very quiet but I could see the staff constantly working.

   Get a Book from the Book Cart -  Bring Something to Donate Too!

   A nurse came in to check something medical, an orderly came to remove the lunch tray, another orderly stopped by to do some cleaning, and then the nurse returned to check how much water he'd drunk (scolding him a little bit in the process - just like hospitals everywhere!) In other words, this seemed like a very normal hospital stay.
7. Book Cart: On the way out, I looked at the book cart located in the hall near the pay window. If you have to hang around this place for a while, go to the book cart for something more substantial to read than a magazine. Please note: the cart is stocked by whatever books people leave - people just like you!  I suggest that if you have a book at home that you're done with, bring it along next time to leave at the cart. Some other veteran will read it and thank you!

Veterans Resource Fair Planning Meeting

On March 5th from 1pm - 230pm, at Tabernacle Church, 2801 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98144, there will be a planning meeting for local community leaders to attend for a small Veterans Resource Fair at the Church scheduled for mid-May 2014. For more information, contact Alfredo "Tito" Medina at 206.802.5578 or TitoVeteransAdvocate@gmail.com

About Veterans And Friends of Puget Sound

Veterans and Friends of Puget is a group of volunteers who are a voice and a presence helping our veterans get the help that they earned through their service. We concentrate on the VA Puget Sound Health System, where we assist veterans in getting access to the best. We advocate both for individual veterans who need help accessing the system, and for the system itself when it needs additional resources. We don't duplicate services provided by the many other fine organizations serving our veterans, but find it more useful to cooperate with them, as some of the stories above may attest.

For more information, see our blog at vafpugetsound.blogspot.com, email vafpugetsound@gmail.com, call 206-446-4667 or write PO Box 46378, Seattle WA 98106.