On Monday morning, more than 75 people gathered outside of the Charles George VA Medical Center in Asheville to commemorate Veterans Day.
The ceremony, sponsored by the VA Medical Center, Buncombe County Veterans Council and the City of Asheville, included the Executive Director of the Western North Carolina VA Health Care System Stephanie Young as well as U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, Asheville Mayor Ester Manheimer, U.S. Army retired command sergeant major Sa’eed Mustafa, and other veterans.
Young praised the staff from the Western North Carolina VA Healthcare System for their resilience despite dealing with their own struggles in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
“Our staff worked all long hours, including multiple shifts, sleeping on cots, strewing throughout the hospital,” Young said. “They figured out how to strap oxygen tanks onto high water vehicles and delivered oxygen to homes. They transported medications and supplies and hiked up mountains where roads and driveways no longer existed.”
She also talked about the swift response from the Disaster Emergency Medical Personnel System Program which is the Veterans Health Administration's main program for voluntary deployment to an emergency or disaster.
“By the morning of Sept. 28th, a combined team of logistics and DEMPS personnel were en route to Asheville to help our veterans and help our staff,” Young said. “Throughout the crisis, they deployed over 80 individuals. Those included drivers, facility maintenance staff, nurses, social workers, respiratory therapists, police officers, and housekeepers all in support of our mission.”
One of those DEMPs volunteers was Garth Massie from Dayton, Ohio. He works for the VA in Ohio and came in the aftermath of the disaster. Young praised his call to duty.
“Garth has been operating vehicles in various terrains enabling other VA staff members to provide services and care to high risk veterans.”
Edwards spoke of the importance of Veterans Day in North Carolina.
“In North Carolina, we are home to 620,000 veterans. The fifth-largest population of veterans of all the states,” Edwards said. “On this day we show our gratitude to all veterans, past and present, who answered the call to service.
“Let us ensure that our veterans have the support that they need when they return home. Let us provide them with quality health care, job opportunities and the resources that they deserve.”
Mustafa served as the keynote speaker. He described the community's response to Hurricane Helene.
“You all are an inspiration for the nation because of the resilience shown by this community,” Mustafa said. “Every act of kindness, every moment of support, every shared smile is a building block for your recovery. An example for others like myself to follow. Just as we veterans learned during our time in service to stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of adversity, we too must stand together to help our own communities like here in this time of need.”
He also talked about the historical significance of Charles George, who the VA Medical Center is named after. George was a member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Tribe and one of only 28 Native Americans to receive the Medal of Honor.
Mustafa then went on to praise the invaluable contributions of women veterans.
“Women have served in our armed forces since the American Revolution, often without recognition that they deserved,” Mustafa said. “Today, let us honor all our veterans' sacrifices and ensure that all veterans, regardless of their gender, their race, their religion, or their social status, receive the best medical care, quality of life programs, and respect which they have rightfully earned.”
The ceremony ended with poems and essays from three members of the Brothers and Sisters Like These Veteran Writing Group. Brothers and Sisters Like These help provide healing through the arts and creative writing to veterans of all conflicts.
One of the speakers was Sarah Scully, a U.S. army veteran from Marshall. She read her essay which BPR will include a snippet below.
“From our country's inception, fighting in the Revolutionary War, either in dresses or disguised as males, our sisters fought for our ideals throughout every conflict. We didn't need or wait for congressional approval to fill combat jobs. We just did them. We all volunteered for those jobs from the truck drivers hauling supplies across the border into Iraq to the military police out on patrols in Afghanistan, risking their lives to ID's and ambushes. We did it because it was our job.”
