VAnguard

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outlook

Welcoming Them HomeA Call to Serve

Working on the WWII Memorial

Behind the Names

March/April 2004

Welcoming Them HomeA Call to Serve

Working on the WWII Memorial

Behind the Names

VAnguard

2 March/April 2004

Features

Caring for Those Who Returned 6a project at the Hines VA hospital is preserving the history of ex-POWsA Call to Serve 8VA executives are helping rebuild a women’s hospital in AfghanistanWelcoming Them Home 11how VA is gearing up to help returning troops make the transitionWorking on the WWII Memorial 16for many, working on the memorial isn’t just a job, it’s personalBehind the Names 20the second installment of a series profiles four more great Americans

Departments

Letters 3 Medical Advances 29Management Matters 4 Have You Heard 30Outlook 5 Honors and Awards 31Around Headquarters 24 Heroes 32Introducing 28

On the coverSoldiers with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Divi-sion wave the flag as they descend thestairwell of the commercial aircraft thatbrought them home to Fort Stewart, Ga.,from Operation Iraqi Freedom. They arepart of the largest Army troop rotationsince World War II. DoD photo

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VAnguardVA’s Employee Magazine

March/April 2004

Vol. L, No. 2

Printed on 50% recycled paper

Editor: Lisa Respess

Assistant Editor: Matt Bristol

Photo Editor: Robert Turtil

Published by the Office of Public Affairs (80D)

Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Ave., N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20420

(202) 273-5746

E-mail: vanguard@mail.va.gov

www.va.gov/pubaff/vanguard/index.htm

VAnguard

March/April 2004 3

letters

We Want to Hear from YouHave a comment on something you’ve seen inVAnguard? We invite reader feedback. Send your com-ments to vanguard@mail.va.gov. You can also write to usat: VAnguard, Office of Public Affairs (80D), Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave., N.W.,Washington, D.C., 20420, or fax your letter to (202)273-6702. Include your name, title and VA facility. Wewon’t be able to publish every letter, but we’ll use repre-sentative ones. We may need to edit your letter forlength or clarity.

January/February IssueI just wanted to take a moment to complimentyou all on the recent issue of VAnguard. It is great.I enjoyed the focus on our veterans returning

home from war andhow to help themcope, as well as VA-DoD changing the sys-tem in order to providethe very best care(“Mission Status: NotBusiness as Usual”).They stepped up to thecall.

And thank youfor highlighting all thehard work and dedica-tion of one man whose

memory still exists in the VA because of his will-ingness to help in addition to give truly of himselfto others (“One Man’s Legacy”). Now I will re-member him, too.

I am proud to be a veteran and a VA em-ployee. I know I am on the right team.

Rene M. StoverProgram Assistant

Phoenix VA Medical Center

Congratulations on a wonderful edition of theVAnguard. As a 32-year employee of the VARO inSalt Lake City, I’ve been reading VAnguard for aslong as I remember it being in existence. I sureenjoyed this edition!

Dave PhillipsAsst. Veterans Service Center Manager

Salt Lake City VARO

Caring Co-WorkersI just started work at the VAin November 2003. My co-workers knew I had recentlyundergone a divorce and wasconcerned about my abilityto provide my two kids agood Christmas because ofthe financial hardship thatcomes with divorce.

Led by Sandra Elkins,program support assistant forSpecial Procedures, they gra-

ciously collected money toallow my kids and me tohave a great Christmas.

And the best gift is toknow that I just found thejackpot, to work with suchwonderful, caring peoplesuch as the team at 3 South,Special Procedures!

Annie AlvarezProgram Support AssistantVA San Diego Healthcare

System

November/DecemberIssueWow—excellent, excellent is-sue. Front cover great. Allcolor photos (“Healing theHealers,” etc.) super. And thearticles—very, very interest-ing. First time I’m actuallyreading VAnguard from frontto back.

Brenda O’DonnellProgram Assistant

Northampton, Mass., VAMedical Center

Wrong DirectionI guess you’ve heard from ev-eryone here at Jefferson Bar-

racks already, but unless I ammistaken (which I’m not), Idrive south of St. Louis to goto work, not north (“Behindthe Names,” November/De-cember issue). This place iswhere Generals Lee andGrant went to militaryschool and Union and Rebelforces were medically treatedand buried.

Thanks for the interest-ing article—maybe youshould come down for avisit.

Nick AmbroseAccounting Technician

Veterans Canteen Service

This year’s chairman of the National Salute to Hospitalized Veter-ans, actor Joe Mantegna, visited patients and staff, including SarahJean Harvey, at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. He plansto visit other VA medical centers this year as his schedule allows.

Saluting America’s Heroes

PAULA BERGER

VAnguardmanagement matters

4 March/April 2004

Every Employee Has a Stake in the Strategic PlanGary SteinbergDeputy Assistant Secretary for Planning

The VA Strategic Plan for Employees provides a line ofsight for employees to see how they directly contrib-ute to the achievement of our mission and goals.

Who are we? Where are wegoing? Why are we here? Aperson asking these basic lifequestions might well turn tophilosophy or religion for theanswers. But VA employeescan find them in the VAStrategic Plan for Employees2003-2008. The Office ofPolicy, Planning and Pre-paredness recently releasedthe five-year projection ofVA’s goals and objectives.

Research shows that or-ganizations that effectivelyshare their strategic planswith employees have a moreinformed workforce andmore satisfied customers.That’s why VA was the firstfederal department to shareits strategic plan with em-ployees. The VA StrategicPlan for Employees providesa line of sight for employeesto see how they directly con-tribute to the achievement ofour mission and goals.

The plan stresses VA’sbasic strategic goals and un-derscores them with specificobjectives and performancetargets.

Secretary Principi’s in-troductory statement makesit clear that every employeehas a stake in the strategicplan. “As our Nation pro-ceeds with the war on terror-ism, I place tremendous im-portance on meeting our ob-ligations to veterans return-ing from combat or militaryoperations,” his statementreads.

“It will be difficult forany VA employee to be over-zealous in serving the casual-ties of the war in which weare now engaged. Conversely,

we will have failed to meetour very reason to exist as adepartment if a veteran ispoorly served—or becausewe are acting in a routine,‘business as usual’ manner.”

There is nothing “busi-ness as usual” about the VAStrategic Plan 2003-2008. Its37 aggressive performancetargets cover all critical ser-vice areas. Here are a few ex-amples.

Under Goal 1 – Restorethe capability of veteranswith disabilities to the great-est extent possible and im-prove the quality of their

lives and that of their fami-lies:■ Coordinate with DoD toensure that veterans orservicemembers returningfrom a combat zone with in-jury or illness have timely ac-cess to VA special health careservices.■ Reduce average compensa-tion claim decision appealresolution time from 105days (2004) to 90 days(2008).■ Increase percentage of vet-erans exiting the VocationalRehabilitation and Employ-ment Program who obtainand maintain suitable em-ployment from 67 percent(2004) to 70 percent (2008).

Under Goal 2 – Ease thereentry of new veterans intocivilian life by increasing

awareness of, access to, anduse of VA health care, ben-efits and services:■ Increase the percentage ofVA hospitals that provideelectronic access to health in-formation provided by DoDon separated servicemembersfrom 90 percent (2004) to100 percent (2008).■ Increase the percentage ofveterans who participate inbenefits briefings prior todischarge to 85 percent in2008.

Under Goal 3 – Honorand serve veterans in life andmemorialize them in death

for their sacrifices on behalfof the nation:■ Increase percentage of pa-tients rating VA health careinpatient service as very goodor excellent from 68 percent(2004) to 72 percent (2008).■ Increase percentage of pri-mary care appointmentsscheduled within 30 days ofdesired date from 90 to 93percent.■ Reduce average number ofdays to process pension rat-ing-related actions from 91(2004) to 78 (2008).■ Increase the percentage ofveterans served by a veterans’burial option within 75 milesof their residence from 82percent (2004) to 85 percent(2008).

Under Goal 4 – Con-tribute to the public health,

emergency management, so-cioeconomic well-being, andhistory of the nation:■ Increase percentage ofemergency preparedness offi-cials who receive focusedtraining or participate in ex-ercises relevant to VA’s Con-tinuity of Operations Planfrom 95 percent (2004) to100 percent (2008).■ Increase the percentage ofprocurement for the depart-ment from small business toa 2008 target of 35 percent.

Under Enabling Goal –Deliver world-class service toveterans and their families by

applying sound businessprinciples that result in effec-tive management of people,communications, technologyand governance:■ Increase percentage of em-ployees who respond favor-ably when surveyed aboutjob satisfaction from 65 per-cent (2004) to 75 percent(2008).■ Increase the dollar value,usage and/or cost savingsthrough joint contractingwith DoD for pharmaceuti-cals from $561 million(2004) to $650 million(2008).

You can read the full VAStrategic Plan for Employeeson the Intranet atvaww1.va.gov/op3, and pub-lished copies are being dis-tributed to all facilities.

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outlook

Nurse Commission to Release RecommendationsLinda Burnes BoltonChairperson, National Commission on VA Nursing

Recruitment and retention of nursing personnel arepriority issues for every health care system, particu-larly VA, the nation’s single largest employer of nurses.

On May 12, it will be mygreat pleasure to make publicthe findings and recommen-dations of the NationalCommission on VA Nursing.The commission was orga-nized in 2002 and chargedwith making recommenda-tions to Congress and theSecretary on the enhance-ment of recruitment and re-tention of registered nurseswithin VA.

Our 12 members repre-sent the expertise and diver-sity of the nursing profession.The group included VA andnon-VA nurses, an econo-mist, VA health care manag-ers and policy experts, andrepresentatives of professionalnurse associations, nursingschools and veterans’ groups.

We began our work inMay 2002 and met eighttimes throughout the nation.More than 190 VA staff gaveoral testimony at our hear-ings in New Orleans, Phila-delphia, Chicago, and LongBeach, Calif., and we re-ceived nearly 1,800 com-ments and statements fromVA employees through e-mail and fax.

We also heard fromVHA leadership. We con-ducted a leadership forum toobtain feedback from nursingleaders and conducted tele-phone interviews at 10 facili-ties with each facility direc-tor, nurse executive and chiefof staff.

Clearly, the recruitmentand retention of nursing per-sonnel are priority issues forevery health care system, par-ticularly VA, the nation’ssingle largest employer of

nurses. Nurses comprise thelargest percentage (32 per-cent) of VA’s 180,000 healthcare workers.

They are a dedicatedand accomplished group.The commission found that34 percent of VA’s 36,000registered nurses holdbachelor’s degrees, comparedto 32.7 percent of non-VAregistered nurses, and 19percent hold master’s or doc-torate degrees compared to10 percent outside VA. Wefound the VA nursing staff tobe more diverse than that atnon-VA facilities. However,VA nurses are getting older(average age 48.9 in Septem-ber 2003) and are likely toretire over the next five to 15

years. VA must considerstrategies to attract and retainnurses in a very competitiverecruiting environment.

We reviewed recommen-dations previously submittedby the Office of Nursing,finding that some were beingimplemented, while othershad not been addressed. Thecommission urged approvalof the recommendations con-tained in the Office of Nurs-ing Service’s A Call to Actionreport. In addition, we maderecommendations in sevenareas: Leadership, Profes-sional Development, FairCompensation, Technology,Respect/Recognition, Work

Environment, and Research.The commission report

offers legislative and organi-zational recommendations tosupport the implementationof a model to attract and re-tain a quality nursingworkforce to provide out-standing care to veterans nowand in the future. To accom-plish this, the commissionproposes that VA:■ Create a nursing environ-ment at all levels that en-hances nursing staff involve-ment in making decisions af-fecting nursing practice,staffing standards, profes-sional development and op-portunities for career devel-opment.■ Develop, test, implement

and evaluate flexible systemsfor nurse staffing, profes-sional development and ad-vancement and delivery ofevidence-based practice toachieve positive patient out-comes.■ Be fully engaged in evi-dence-based leadership devel-opment for nursing at all lev-els across the continuum ofhealth care. Nursing must beled by professional nurses.

To support theseoverarching recommenda-tions, VA and Congress mustallocate resources tostrengthen local facility ca-pacity to attract and retain aqualified nursing workforce.

Nurse leaders at each facilitymust be accountable and re-sponsible for nursing prac-tice, resource allocation, edu-cation and research. Partner-ships and collaboration be-tween local VA facilities andthe broader nursing commu-nity must be developed tosupport the professional ad-vancement of nursing per-sonnel and recruit new anddiverse individuals into theVA nursing workforce.

Finally, it is essentialthat staff nurses, managers,medical staff, employee rep-resentatives and veterans’ rep-resentatives work together toassure a collaborative practiceenvironment beneficial toveterans and nursing.

The first commissionhearing I attended was excit-ing and intense. Nursing per-sonnel from San Francisco toFlorida told their stories.They spoke of their commit-ment to veterans and a desireto do anything to make itpossible to deliver safe, qual-ity patient care. I wastouched by their sincerityand willingness to share theirideas with the commission. Ihope our recommendationsmeet their requests.

Editor’s note: The full reportwill be available on thecommission’s home page, atwww.va.gov/ncvan.

VAnguardfeature

6 March/April 2004

As it does every year in April,the nation will recognizeformer prisoners of war with a

few ceremonies, a speech or two,and the customary proclamationfrom the President. Despite all this,for most Americans April 9 is justanother day and former POWs arethe result of conflicts that happenedlong ago in faraway places.

For Phillip Elbaum, social workclinical manager at the Hines, Ill.,VA Hospital and assistant professorof psychiatry at Loyola University,and Edward Klama, PTSD clinicalteam coordinator at Hines, POWsare real and April 9, and every otherday, is a chance to pass on their sto-ries and experiences to the nextgeneration of Americans throughthe Former POW Living HistoryProject.

Improving VA CareFounded by the two Hines so-

cial workers, the Former POW Liv-ing History Project combines a sur-vey of World War II, Korean Warand Vietnam War veterans’ long-term adjustment to captivity with avideo documentary of their experi-ence before, during, and after theircapture. The project combines theseelements to educate VA employeesabout the changing needs in healthcare for former POWs, to enable

Who Returned

The Hines VA Hospital’s Former POW LivingHistory Project is preserving the stories andexperiences of ex-POWs and passing them onto the next generation of Americans.

Hines VA Hospital social workers Phillip Elbaum and Ed Klama, standing left and right,look at mementos with former POWs Harold Lasch, left, and Jesse Trexler. Lasch was anavigator on a B-17 in World War II. He was shot down and held captive for six months.Trexler, 84, served in World War II with the 3rd Army, 90th Division. He was captured afterthe Battle of the Bulge and held for three months.

JERRY MALONEY

Caring for Those

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former POWs to confront their pastin a constructive way, and as a pub-lic act of remembrance.

Elbaum and Klama first met in1971, when Klama retired from theU.S. Army. But it wasn’t until 28years later that they formed the ideafor the Former POW Living HistoryProject.

In 1999 Elbaum and Klama be-gan to notice an increase in thenumber of War World II and Viet-nam POWs coming to the hospitalfor care. “As [POWs] got older, theystarted coming to VA for services,”said Elbaum.

While these men had once beenheld captive in a long-ago war, theyhad returned home to lead full lives.“You have to understand, these aresuccessful men,” said Klama. “Someare doctors and lawyers, others areclerks and mechanics, and they allare husbands and fathers.”

In short, these weren’t VA’stypical PTSD patients. They hadmoved on with their lives, and onlynow were beginning to experiencemany of the symptoms and indica-tions of PTSD. This meant that so-cial workers, nurses, and even doc-tors at the Hines hospital had to re-examine how they cared for formerPOWs as they got older and facednew challenges.

According to Elbaum, “AsPOW veterans got older, they faceda new set of challenges—retirement,death of friends, and failing health.The Former POW Living HistoryProject shows that with these newchallenges comes a lot of stress, andwith that stress comes PTSD.”

While few POWs interviewedby Elbaum and Klama developed fullPTSD, most began to exhibit symp-toms such as recurring nightmares,daydreams and emotional trauma.According to Elbaum and Klama,these minor forms of PTSD can eas-ily be overlooked in ex-POWs be-cause when dealing with a veteranwho has been living with little or no

trauma for so long, PTSD is not thefirst place you look.

So why look to mild forms ofPTSD to explain former POWs’ in-creased symptoms? Because accord-ing to Klama, “most POWs don’tdeal with their trauma so much asthey replace it, with work, family, orfriends. They keep busy.” As veter-ans get older however, they can nolonger maintain such a fast-pacedlifestyle and must begin to confronttheir memories of captivity. This isespecially true for POWs of the east-ern fronts, who were tortured andtreated far worse than those in thewest.

Showing the videos to healthcare professionals and decodingformer POWs’ surveys, Elbaum andKlama have helped make the staff atHines acutely aware of the dynamicsof trauma in former POWs and itsprogression after retirement and inthe face of aging.

Remembering Our Former POWsElbaum and Klama began the

Former Living POW History Projectnot only to explore POWs’ long-term adjustment, but also to help re-mind Americans of the price thesemen and women paid for our free-dom. “America’s former prisoners ofwar are national heroes; they foughtfor America and endured crueltiesand deprivations in the defense ofour nation we could never imagine.And yet we are losing that knowl-edge,” said Elbaum.

America was losing that knowl-edge because it wasn’t somethingthat was talked about. “We remem-ber those still missing in action, butwe don’t talk about those who’ve re-turned and what they wentthrough,” Elbaum added.

The experiences of formerPOWs are absent from the publicdiscourse on purpose. POWs re-turned home looking to purge theatrocities of war, not to relive them,and as a result that history and their

stories were buried deep withinthem. “You have to understand,POWs experienced untold horrorsand atrocities. They watched theirfriends shot right in front of them,were loaded onto death ships,starved, beaten and even tortured.They didn’t want to talk about it,”said Elbaum.

Former POWs didn’t want totalk about their experiences then,but now they are ready to share.“We would sit down with a POW,and he would begin to tell us amaz-ing stories of strength, courage andbravery,” said Klama.

Elbaum and Klama decided tohelp former POWs share their sto-ries with their families and theworld. “Americans can learn a lotabout freedom, patriotism, and cour-age from our living POWs. It’s notjust their history, it’s American his-tory,” said Elbaum.

It’s American history, all right.Recognizing the importance ofElbaum’s and Klama’s research, inMarch 2003 the Library of Congressrequested copies of their interviewsfor inclusion in the Veterans HistoryProject. For Elbaum and Klama, itwas a natural fit, allowing them toshare former POWs’ experienceswith the entire nation.

So far, Elbaum and Klama havevideotaped more than 111 formerPOWs as they talked about their ex-periences in captivity, sharing theirstories for the first time. A copy ofthe tape is given to the POW’s fam-ily to keep as a reminder of thePOW’s sacrifice, while another copyis used to educate students, medicalstaff and volunteers about the trueprice of freedom.

By Antonio Mason Williams

Editor’s note: VA is reaching out to some11,000 former POWs who are not takingadvantage of benefits they’re entitled to.For more about the outreach campaign,see p. 27.

VAnguardfeature

8 March/April 2004

A Call to ServeA Call to Serve

VA executives arehelping rebuildAfghanistan’s busiestwomen’s hospital.

Above: Clyde Parkis, left, and Nathan Geraths with a newbornat the Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospital in Kabul.

John Fears’ introduction to women’s health care inAfghanistan was unlike anything he could ever haveimagined. A woman was giving birth on the front

steps of the hospital the moment he arrived. Acrowd gathered over her prone figure and spread theirflowing burkas, creating a screen as he passed.

In the delivery room there were two women sharinga bed. A few feet away a woman was screaming andwrithing in agony as doctors performed an episiotomywithout anesthesia. Blood and amniotic fluid coveredthe floor.

“Overwhelming,” is how Fears described that firstday. “[The hospital] was unbelievably crowded, dirty,smelled badly and in incredible disrepair.”

Fears, 62, director of the Carl T. Hayden VA Medi-cal Center in Phoenix, was the first of several VA ex-ecutives detailed to the Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospi-tal in Kabul under the U.S. plan to help rebuildAfghanistan’s health care system. After completing a

two-month tour, he turned things over to Clyde Parkis,director of VISN 10, based in Cincinnati, who servedfrom Dec. 11, 2003, to March 1, 2004. Parkis in turnwas replaced by Nathan L. Geraths, director of theMadison, Wis., VA Medical Center. Each man volun-teered for the assignment.

The experience has had a profound effect on Fearsand Parkis, who agreed to share their stories withVAnguard. Geraths was still on the ground in Kabul atthe time of publication.

Fears saw the maternal death rate drop from 12 tojust two during his first month, while Parkis watchedthe post-op infection rate fall from 16 percent to lessthan 1 percent before he left. The improvements, theysaid, resulted from implementing the most basic health

COURTESY OF CLYDE PARKIS

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John Fears wore a bulletproof vest when he accompaniedmilitary personnel outside their compound.

care practices—establishing a triage system for expect-ant moms and fixing broken pipes that spewed sewageonto the operating room floor. Both men spoke of prideand satisfaction in knowing they made a difference dur-ing their tours in Kabul. “It’s very much a renewal,” saidParkis, 59, who became a grandfather shortly before hedeparted for Afghanistan. “I rediscovered skills I hadn’tused in a long time.”

Answering the CallThe story of how VA health care administrators

wound up in Kabul began with a letter from TommyThompson, the Secretary of Health and Human Ser-vices, to Secretary Principi asking for VA assistance inthe multi-agency effort. The Defense Department wasrebuilding infrastructure, Thompson explained in hisletter, and HHS physicians were training hospital staffand treating patients, but more help was needed.

The stats spoke volumes: one in four Afghan babiesdie before their 5th birthday. Afghanistan has the sec-ond-highest maternal mortality rate in the world. Fortypercent of deaths among women of childbearing age arecaused by preventable complications related to child-birth. Was there any way VA could help, Thompsonasked? Secretary Principi knew there had to be and di-rected VHA to determine how the department couldbest assist in the reconstruction effort.

The answer, though, wasn’t immediately clear.“There were so many things that needed addressing,”said Dr. Frances M. Murphy, Deputy Under Secretaryfor Health Policy Coordination in VA Central Office.The Rabia Balkhi hospital had no medical records sys-

tem, no infection control procedures, no triage system,no emergency room and no system to register patients.What they needed was an administrator who could helpestablish a basic hospital management system. CertainlyVA staff had the expertise, but would anyone volunteerfor the assignment? Murphy raised the question duringthe weekly VHA directors conference call on Sept. 17,2003. “We had about 20 people volunteer right away,”she said.

John Fears was one of the first. He didn’t mind thefact that he’d be leaving in less than three weeks. Hedidn’t mind the dicey security situation—assailants firedrockets at two Kabul compounds used by internationalpeacekeepers the week he volunteered. His decision wasdriven by “an inner moral tugging that urged me to dosomething that we as Americans need to do,” he said.

Conditions in KabulRabia Balkhi is a small, crowded hospital with no

budget and substandard equipment expected to care foran illiterate and high-risk population. Many of the prob-lems were simply beyond his control. Yet there wereconditions he could improve. Identifying them was animportant first step.

Working with a team of U.S. government volun-teers, non-government organizations, and staff from theMinistry of Health, Fears helped identify areas theycould target for improvement: the high mortality rate,inadequate plumbing and electrical distribution, lack ofmanagement experience and a poorly trained staff.

One of their first steps was to recruit an obstetri-cian/gynecologist to mentor staff and interns, a movethat immediately reduced the number of women whodied during childbirth. Since many of the pregnantwomen who came to the hospital were pre-eclampsic, acondition that can cause the kidneys to shut down andlead to seizures and death, they also established anemergency room and trained staff in admitting andtriaging patients. This saved the lives of four women thefirst week. “It was a simple procedure to screen thesewomen, get them stabilized, hydrated and into the oper-ating room,” said Fears.

After lowering the death rate, Fears focused his ef-forts behind the scenes “working with the military toplan and evaluate what we needed to do and how to doit.” He spent a lot of time at the military compoundwhere he lived. The gated compound consisted of a fewolder Afghan homes leased by the military. Two wereused as chow halls that served up American-style cafete-ria food. The others were for working and sleeping.Fears had an 8-by-10 room with an Army cot, a sleepingbag and a couple of empty MRE boxes he used for stor-age. It wasn’t much, but it was home for 60 days.

COURTESY OF JOHN FEARS

VAnguardfeature

10 March/April 2004

The Rabia Balkhi Women’s Hospital in Kabul averages40 deliveries a day, according to a Health and HumanServices Department press release. By contrast, thebusiest hospital for births in the Washington, D.C., metroarea, Inova Fairfax Hospital, averaged 33 deliveries aday in 2003.

Quick Stat

Above left: It’s three babies to a bed in the hospital’s nursery;left: Parkis focused on fixing plumbing problems that werecausing raw sewage to spill on operating room floors; above:an Afghan crew works to fix the sewage system.

By the time Parkis arrived in mid-December, thingswere looking up at the hospital. But there was still a lotof work to do. Most of the sinks and toilets were broken.Surgeons in the first-floor operating rooms wore rubberboots because there was raw sewage on the floor. Waterdripped from the ceiling in the nurses’ station nearby.Most of the lights didn’t work. “My goal was to get itclean, dry and well-lit,” said Parkis. He formed a plumb-ing crew to fix leaky pipes and snake the drains, andhelped write contracts for janitorial services.

As environmental conditions began to improve, theteam turned to establishing antibiotic protocols. It

wasn’t uncommon for Afghan doctors to prescribe threedifferent medications simultaneously to treat an infec-tion. The idea was to fire all your guns at once and hopeyou hit the mark. The downside was that if the drugcocktail didn’t work, there were few remaining options.After an American doctor showed them how to targetan infection with the most effective medication, the all-or-nothing method fell out of favor. “They’re looking forus to help them do their jobs better, not do it for them,”said Parkis.

A Five-Year PlanThe Health and Human Services Department has

committed to a five-year rebuilding plan at the RabiaBalkhi Women’s Hospital. VA will continue to help byproviding health care administrators as needed on a vol-untary basis, according to Murphy, who is coordinatingthe effort. She said the experience offers volunteersboth personal and professional growth. “Our staff are re-ally making a difference over there … [and] when theyreturn to VA, the level of knowledge and experiencethey bring back benefits our entire health care system,”she said.

Parkis has no reservations about returning for a sec-ond tour. “It’s important that we win the peace. Some-body has to work with the Afghan people to improvethe situation over there—why not me, why not us?”

By Matt Bristol and Paula Pedene

COURTESY OF CLYDE PARKIS

COURTESY OF CLYDE PARKIS

COURTESY OF CLYDE PARKIS

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March/April 2004 11

cover story

The largest rotation of U.S.Army troops since World WarII is now underway. Thousands

of combat-weary soldiers have al-ready returned from duty in Iraq.More are expected in the monthsahead.

About 130,000 soldiers will re-turn to the states by early summer.Though many will stay in the ser-vice, an estimated 10 percent of ac-tive duty soldiers, along with 28,000National Guard members and re-servists now in Iraq, will return tocivilian life.

For some, the transition won’tbe easy. They’ve spent the past 12months fighting an elusive enemy—many reported difficulties identify-ing friend from foe. They may haveexperienced the pain and helpless-ness of losing fellow soldiers. Andsome have witnessed the killing ofwomen and children through indis-criminate suicide attacks and road-side bombs.

“It’s become a different type ofwar. A lot of the wounded [soldiers]say they were shot at by the verypeople they were there to help. It’svery much like what we experiencedin Vietnam,” said Dr. Alfonso R.Batres, chief officer of VA’s Read-justment Counseling Service, whoserved with Military Assistance

Command in Vietnam from 1969 to1970.

Their war may have some simi-larities with Vietnam, but theirhomecoming will be much different.Soldiers left Vietnam alone andwere often on the streets less than24 hours later. Some were tauntedor spit at if they wore their militaryuniforms. They were confused andisolated, with nowhere to turn.

Early InterventionMuch has changed since Viet-

nam. For one, PTSD is now recog-

nized as a serious medical condition.The military services try to detectand treat combat trauma as early aspossible. The Army deployed com-bat stress teams to Iraq to helptroops cope with the war. Last yearnearly 600 Army soldiers from Iraqwere sent to mental health treat-ment facilities, according to a Feb.19 Washington Post report.

Returning troops also receivecomprehensive physical and psycho-logical evaluations. There are familycounselors and support groups atmilitary installations. Guard and re-

Welcoming Them HomeTheir war may havesome similarities withVietnam, but theirhomecoming will bemuch different.

A soldier with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division returning from Operation Iraqi Freedomgets a warm greeting from his wife and daughter.

DOD PHOTO

VAnguardcover story

12 March/April 2004

Through a partnership between VA and the Departmentof Defense, three mental health professionals from thePalo Alto, Calif., division of VA’s National Center forPost-Traumatic Stress Disorder traveled more than2,000 miles to train members of the 785th CombatStress Company at Fort McCoy, Wis., in January.

The 785th, from Fort Snelling, Minn., is an ArmyReserve unit of mental health professionals who spe-cialize in critical incident stress management. Theirmission is to treat sol-diers on the battlefieldwho are stressed or whohave stress-related men-tal health issues. The unitwas activated and re-ported to Fort McCoy inDecember, where theyprepared for deploymentto Iraq in early February.

The 85 members ofthe 785th are psychia-trists, psychologists, so-cial workers, psychiatricnurses, occupationaltherapists, chaplains andother mental health clini-cians. After arriving inIraq, they divided intoteams of four embedded with combat units throughoutIraq. Their job is to get to know the soldiers and do asmuch preventive intervention as possible to help keepthem mentally healthy while in Iraq and prevent the on-slaught of PTSD in the years to come.

The team from the National Center for PTSD—Fred Gusman, director of the education and clinicallaboratory division; Joe Ruzek, Ph.D., associate directorof education; and Gregory Leskin, Ph.D., director ofclinical services—was invited by the 785th’s com-mander, Maj. David Rabb, who works for VA as execu-tive assistant to the Under Secretary for Health’s Diver-sity Advisory Board.

VA established the National Center for PTSD in1989 in response to a congressional mandate to ad-dress the needs of veterans with military-related PTSD.Its mission was, and remains today, the advancementof clinical care and social welfare of America’s veter-

Critical Incident StressManagement on theBattlefield

serve forces receive one month’s paid leave so theyhave time to decompress and reconnect with lovedones. Once discharged, combat vets can tap into anynumber of VA resources right in their communities,like vet center counseling or health care, for up to twoyears following their discharge.

Nearly 10,000 in-theater Iraqi Freedom vets hadalready turned up at VA medical centers as of Feb. 24,according to a report by VA’s Office of Public Healthand Environmental Hazards. Most of them left thecombat theater last May when President Bush declaredan end to major hostilities.

Another 4,535 returning veterans had receivedhelp through VA’s 206 vet centers as of March 1, eitherin a vet center or during outreach activities. Approxi-

mately 16 percent of those seen at avet center reported symptoms con-sistent with combat stress, accord-ing to Batres.

Diagnosing PTSD in IraqiFreedom veterans is tricky business.Dr. Harold Kudler, coordinator ofthe VISN 6 (Durham, N.C.) men-tal health service line and co-chairof the Under Secretary for Health’sSpecial Committee on PTSD, cau-tions against putting too much em-phasis on medical diagnoses.“Rather than focusing on whetherthey have PTSD, we need to focuson whether they’re making a goodreadjustment, because that’s reallywhat we’re talking about—readjust-ment, not sickness,” he said.

To help clinicians assess and treat returning warveterans, trauma experts from the VA National Centerfor PTSD have developed an Iraq War ClinicianGuide. Read it online or download a copy atwww.ncptsd.org/topics/war.html. One section of theguide, entitled “Treatment of the Iraqi War Veteran,”notes that, “It is important that VA and vet center cli-nicians recognize that the skills and experience thatthey have developed in working with veterans withchronic PTSD will serve them well with those return-ing from the Iraq War.”

“They don’t want to think about[combat trauma] being a prob-lem. It’s fresh, like a wound, andthey’re not sure if it’s going toheal or fade away.”

Fred Gusman, standing, was one of three PTSD expertsfrom the Palo Alto division of VA’s National Center forPTSD who provided training to a Combat Stress Com-pany before the unit’s deployment to Iraq.

LAURA BISHOP

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ans through research, education, and training in thescience, diagnosis, and treatment of PTSD and stress-related disorders. The center developed an Iraq WarClinician Guide to help VA clinicians recognize symp-toms of stress in returning soldiers from Iraq.

Rabb wanted the PTSD experts from Palo Alto toprovide his unit the latest information on the disorderand help prepare the members of the 785th for war.

In addition to taking care of the soldiers on thebattlefield, the professionals of the 785th also need totake care of themselves and each other, explainedRabb. “They can get what is called secondary PTSDjust by listening to the stories, the grief, the sadness,and the traumatic experiences the soldiers have,” hesaid, “so my goal is focusing on that, as well as themission of taking care of the soldiers.”

The training provided by the VA team of PTSD ex-perts is the first of its kind to be conducted with a com-bat stress unit prior to deployment. “The 785th has itsown internal training but they brought us here to bringin newer information about what’s being learned re-garding preventing the development of PTSD and theyare drawing on us because of our long experience withVietnam veterans,” said Gusman.

According to Gusman, there are some similaritiesbetween the Vietnam War and Operation Iraqi Free-dom. Vulnerability is the first. Daily reports of bombingsand other attacks in Iraq confirm that soldiers theredon’t have a “front line” as their predecessors did inthe two world wars and Korea; likewise, soldiers inVietnam never had a “front” from which to leave. Andwith the upcoming elections, job market, and opposingviews of the war, the nation is facing similar societal is-sues. Gusman is quick to point out the soldiers in Iraqare well aware of the number of Americans question-ing the country’s involvement in this war and the stressit causes.

There are differences between the two wars, aswell. There are more women in today’s military, moremiddle-aged soldiers, and more reservists serving inOperation Iraqi Freedom. Those differences create ad-ditional stressors, according to Gusman.

One important difference, though, is the vast storeof knowledge gained about PTSD since Vietnam andthe work that is being done to prevent it from develop-ing in this new generation of veterans. “If we can savejust one soldier from developing PTSD and save thatone veteran’s family and friends from the pain of PTSD,then I will consider our mission a success,” said Lt.Troy Feisel, one of five members of the 785th who areVA employees. —By Laura Bishop

Demobilization CentersOften, the first contact with returning troops occurs

at major military demobilization centers, where VA em-ployees are actively conducting transition briefings.

At Fort Carson, Colo., staff from the VA pre-dis-charge office have briefed thousands of Guard membersand reservists rotating out of Iraq and back to theirhome states on the West Coast, according to AndyRoss, a veterans service representative assigned to theoffice. Though they generally have a lot of questionsabout VA benefits, he said, most are “very tired and justwant to go home.” His office is gearing up for the returnof 12,000 active-duty troops from the 3rd ArmoredCavalry Regiment.

Another major demobilization center is FortStewart, Ga., home of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division.Laura L. Cox, a social worker at the Savannah, Ga., VetCenter, visits Fort Stewart once a week to conduct de-mobilization briefings for Guard and reserve forces. She

Dr. Harold Kudler, co-chair of the Under Secretary for Health’s Spe-cial Committee on PTSD, says the focus should be on whether IraqiFreedom veterans are making a good readjustment, not whetherthey have PTSD. He testified before the House Veterans’ AffairsCommittee in March.

ROBERT TURTIL

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14 March/April 2004

Most returning Iraqi Freedom vets don’t want to talk about PTSD, accordingto Larry Hayes, Ph.D., team leader at the Savannah, Ga., Vet Center. “Theseguys are going to try as hard as they can to avoid dealing with it,” he said.One icebreaker he finds helpful is simply to list a few of the typical combatstress responses. “I stress that these are normal responses to trauma andthat takes a little of the pressure off them. It makes it easier for them to askfor assistance if they’re having difficulties,” he said.

Mental health experts emphasize that it’s normal for returning Iraqi Free-dom vets to experience some of the PTSD criteria listed in DSM IV (Diagnos-tic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). But it’s also normal for themto fade with time. When the symptoms don’t fade, it’s important that theyknow where to turn for help. Normal responses to combat trauma, accordingto DSM IV criteria for diagnosing PTSD, include:

■ Recurring or intrusive distressing recollections of an event■ Recurring and distressing dreams■ Avoidance of thoughts or memories or feelings associated with the

trauma■ Diminished interest in significant activities■ Feels estranged or distant from others■ Sense of a foreshortened future■ Difficulty falling or staying asleep■ Irritability or outbursts of anger■ Hyper-vigilance■ Exaggerated startle response

Starting a Dialogue on Combat Trauma

also provides trauma counseling forsoldiers referred from Winn ArmyHospital and the 3rd Infantry Divi-sion headquarters.

“The Iraqi Freedom vets are notsure what PTSD is all about, theyjust know something happened overthere,” explained Larry Hayes,Ph.D., team leader at the SavannahVet Center. “They don’t want tothink about it being a problem. It’sfresh, like a wound, and they’re notsure if it’s going to heal or fadeaway.”

Sometimes, they won’t talkabout it with someone who wasn’tthere. To reach these veterans,Batres is recruiting about 50 combatvets who served in Iraq and Af-ghanistan to perform outreach ac-tivities. They will be hired for athree-year period to work on or nearmilitary installations and demobili-zation centers. “Their job will be togo out and make contact [with re-turning vets], welcome them home,and tell them about VA services. Itcan be a tough transition, psycho-logically. But we’re going to be thereto help them through it,” Batressaid.

The HomecomingIraqi Freedom veterans will re-

turn to a hero’s welcome. And that’sa good thing, because their percep-tion of the homecoming will have apowerful impact on how they viewtheir wartime experience.

“The welcome home is ex-tremely important,” said SherrillValdes, a licensed clinical socialworker at the Oakland Park VAOutpatient Clinic in BrowardCounty, Fla. “When we welcomesomeone home, we’re saying tothem, ‘I know something happenedto you and I care,’ and that validatestheir experiences to begin the pro-cess of adjustment.”

Nearly 2,000 National Guardmembers and reservists began re-turning to South Florida in February.Valdes attended her first family de-mobilization briefing in early Janu-ary, a few weeks before the first wave

of soldiers started trickling home.“The families have been through alot and it’s important that we recog-nize what they’ve endured,” she said.

During the briefing, she coun-seled anxious husbands, wives, par-ents and siblings to expect somethings to be different. “There is atendency to jump back into life asthough nothing has changed. Butthings have changed and the adjust-ment may be difficult. The familiesneed to focus on important bonds intheir relationship because they reallyneed each other’s support,” Valdessaid.

Thirty miles south on I-95, Fi-del Gonzalez is directing a specialclinic for returning vets at the Mi-ami VA Medical Center. He said hesees a couple of new Iraqi Freedomveterans every day in his office nearthe emergency room.

Some have injuries sustained on

Sherrill Valdes counsels families of return-ing veterans to expect some things to bedifferent.

EUGENE O. EUBANK

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■ 1st Cavalry Division from FortHood, Texas, will replace 1st Ar-mored Division, based inWeisbaden, Germany.■ 1st Infantry Division from Ger-many will replace 101st Airborne Di-vision, out of Fort Campbell, Ky., andthe 4th Infantry Division, headquar-tered at Fort Hood, Texas.■ 1st Marine Expeditionary Forceand an Army brigade will replace82nd Airborne Division, based atFort Bragg, N.C.■ Two National Guard units, the39th Infantry of Arkansas and the30th Infantry from North Carolina,will deploy with the 1st Infantry and1st Cavalry Divisions. Both Guardunits will be augmented by otherNational Guard forces: the 39th by abattalion from Oregon’s 41st InfantryBrigade and the 30th by a battalionfrom the 27th Infantry Brigade out ofNew York. A third Guard brigade, the81st Armor from Washington, will re-place the National Guard 53rd Infan-try Brigade, based in Tampa, Fla.,and the 76th Infantry Brigade out ofIndianapolis, Ind.■ The 25th Infantry Division, fromSchofield Barracks, Hawaii, will re-place the 10th Mountain Division,Fort Drum, N.Y., in Afghanistan.

Comingsand Goings

active duty. Others are strugglingwith what may turn out to bePTSD. He recommends taking itslow when first meeting with return-ing veterans. “You need to allow fora reasonable amount of time for thatinitial visit,” Gonzalez said. “Youdon’t want to make them feelrushed. If they feel you’re interestedand care about their experience,

then they’re more likely to openup.”

Welcome them home and showthem we care is the message spread-ing throughout VA. Medical centersand clinics in VISN 8 (Bay Pines,Fla.), for example, opened theirdoors to returning troops on March27 for a Homecoming Open House.The goal, according to Miami

VAMC Director Stephen M. Lucas,is to get the word out to veterans,servicemembers and their familiesabout the wide range of VA benefitsand services available to returningcombat vets. “As a Vietnam veteran,I remember the reception my gen-eration received after the war,” hesaid. “We’re not going to let thathappen this time.”

By Matt Bristol

Iraqi Freedom veteran Vilamarie McDougall, with Fidel Gonzalez, is now a patient at theMiami VAMC. Her mother, Jenny Aviles, works on Miami VAMC’s Spinal Cord Injury Unit.

EUGENE O. EUBANK

Returning from war, says Dr. Alfonso Batres, “can be a tough transition, psychologically.”DOD PHOTO

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Working on the WWII MeFor many of the workers, it’s notjust a job, it’s personal.

Since construction began in September 2001, hun-dreds of workers have labored on the memorialthat honors the 16 million Americans who served

in uniform during World War II, more than 400,000 ofwhom gave their lives. A number of those constructionworkers are veterans, and many had relatives whoserved in World War II; others have no strong personalconnection. All, however, share a sense of pride in theirwork on the memorial as it nears completion.

On March 28, the American Battle MonumentsCommission and Tompkins Builders Inc. held a workerappreciation celebration at the memorial site. The key-note speaker was ABMC Chairman Gen. P.X. Kelley,former commandant of the Marine Corps.

In his address to the workers and their families, hesaid, “This is not a memorial to stand back and look at.This is a memorial, as you will see, that you feel. Whenyou walk down into it, it encompasses you. And you seethe history of what went on during World War II. Andthat is what we hoped would be the message.”

The workers already knew of what Kelly spoke.Here are some of their thoughts.

Nick BensonNick Benson is the owner-operator of the John

Stevens Shop, the Newport, R.I., stonecutting companythat won the contract for the memorial. His firm wasfounded in 1705 and has since cut stone for suchprojects as the Iwo Jima Memorial, the JFK memorial atArlington National Cemetery, the FDR Memorial andthe National Gallery of Art.

“The memorial has gotten a lot of bad press, but it’sBenson

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morial: A Labor of Honor

nice to see the initial reaction of veterans who havecome to see it,” Benson said. “They are really blownaway. It’s nestled beautifully in the trees and it fits thelandscape. [Ray] Kaskey’s sculpture and [Friedrich] St.Florian’s heavy form work well together. I chose a boldletter to complement their work.”

Christine DeMarcoThis is the first large-scale memorial Christine

DeMarco has worked on. She works for Nick Benson.“It’s rather unfair that I get to do the final glory work af-ter all the hard work is done,” said DeMarco. “I find itan apt memorial. It has a Teutonic War-like feel, strongclassical references, regal in its description of serioustimes.”

Pat BizzellPat Bizzell is the electrical superintendent for the

project. He quit his job as a project manager with an-other firm to work on the memorial, to honor membersof his family who fought and died in the war.

His grandfather was a medic who was wounded onD-Day. One uncle died after his ship was torpedoed inthe Pacific. Another uncle fought in Europe, and a thirdwas a Marine in the Pacific.

“We just tested the lights and it’s really amazing,”said Bizzell of the 50,000 watts of power used to light upthis section of the National Mall. “During the day, thememorial is beautiful, but at night it’s really spectacular.

“We owe a great debt to those who fought and sac-rificed, and it’s really a shame that it’s taken so long to

DeMarco

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build it. It’s long overdue. This should have been thefirst on the Mall, before the Vietnam Wall or the Ko-rean Memorial. Without their sacrifice, this countrywouldn’t be the same today.”

Bizzell has spent more than two years on thisproject, “through cold, cold days and hot summers. Asan electrician, I’ve been involved with many projects,but this [one] is really special to me.”

Frank RaineyElectrician Frank Rainey’s father survived the at-

tack on Pearl Harbor. “My dad said that [his ship] theOklahoma took seven torpedoes, while the official ver-sion is five,” said Rainey. His dad climbed out of a port-hole of the capsized battleship and swam 200-300 yardsunderwater to escape the burning oil that covered thewater’s surface. “He said that the whole harbor was onfire, not like that movie (“Pearl Harbor,” released in2001). They gave him a hamburger that was burned onone side and raw on the other and ordered him onboard another ship to go look for the enemy.

“I wanted to be a part of this for my father,” Raineysays as he assembles walkway light fixtures before per-manently placing them. Though the memorial comestoo late for his dad, who died 10 years ago, “none ofthem fought to get a memorial,” he says of his father’sgeneration. “I’m surprised at just how good it is.”

Ken TerryKen Terry is the project manager and lead on-site

supervisor for the memorial’s builder, Tompkins/Grunley-Walsh. Although not a veteran himself, hecomes from a military family.

His dad was a career Marine who served in Viet-nam. His paternal grandfather was a Marine who de-fended Wake Island, was captured by the Japanese withthe rest of the garrison and held for more than three-and-a-half years. His other grandfather commanded ananti-aircraft battery in the Pacific. Both of his grandfa-thers continued their careers in the military long afterthe war ended.

His maternal grandfather died recently. “In the finalyears of his life, all he talked about was the memorial,”said Terry. “He was thrilled and immensely proud thathis grandson was at the right place at the right time tomake this contribution. He did have one visit to the siteand he thought it was just marvelous. He was very ex-cited that it was finally being built.”

Even though the memorial won’t be dedicated untilMay, “people have been coming out in droves and it’ssad to turn them away,” said Terry. “They are getting upin years and it’s hard to hear them say that they doubtthey will be able to come back.” Admitting that he has

Bizzell

Williamson

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broken some rules on occasion, he said he “actually gota hug from one veteran.”

Heath WilliamsonBoth of Heath Williamson’s grandfathers served in

the war, one as an Army corpsman and the other as aNavy Seabee. Williamson served in the Navy as well,logging eight years operating nuclear reactors on missileand fast attack submarines.

Today he works as a tooler for Valley BronzeFoundry of Wallowa, Ore., the metal work companythat produced the 4,123 gold-plated stars, 112 twinwreaths, monumental bas-relief medallions, four waterfountains, flagpole pedestals and decorative drainagegrates at the memorial.

“My grandfathers were pretty quiet about their warexperiences,” he says. “I do know they’d feel that it’sabout damn time this memorial was built.” He hopes hisone surviving grandfather comes to the dedication inMay.

Darren E. ZehnerAs project architect for the Leo A Daly architec-

tural firm, Darren Zehner has guided the memorial fromartist’s sketch to reality. “It’s a great honor to work onit,” he said. “It’s a highlight of my career.”

After this project, Zehner has a new appreciationfor stone. “One block of stone was used to create thisentire section [encompassing the South and Central Pa-cific struggles] and it pushed the limits of fabrication. Ivisited the cutting factories and shook the hands ofsome of the workmen. You could feel such strength intheir grip,” he said, pointing out stone from North andSouth Carolina, Georgia, California and Brazil.

Zehner’s family took part in World War II. He re-members seeing aircraft models liberated from a Germanmilitary flight school that his grandfather’s companyoverran. His great-uncle served in the war as well. “It’s ashame that so many soldiers were not recognized fortheir efforts,” he said. “This memorial has taken a longtime to get to this point. With more than 1,000 of themdying every day, it’s sad that so many won’t see it. Thosewho come to the dedication should be given seats atfront row, center.”

Story and photos by Robert Turtil

Rainey

Terry

Zehner Editor’s note: The World War II Memorial on the National Mallin Washington, D.C., will be dedicated on May 29. For moreabout the dedication, see p. 25.

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Field facilities all over the coun-try bear the names of Ameri-cans who made significant con-

tributions to their country. Whowere they? The first installment ofthis feature series profiled the peoplebehind the names of some of VA’soldest national cemeteries. In this

second installment, VAnguard takesa look at the historical figures be-hind the names of four VA medicalcenters.

Two great American heroes,both Medal of Honor recipients; aworld-class physician, dean of amedical school and one of VA’s most

influential chief medical directors;and a popular U.S. Congressmanand veterans’ advocate. These four

Behindthe Names

VA facilities all over the country bear the names of great Americans.Who were they? The second installment of a series looks at the histori-cal figures behind the names of four VA medical centers.

Cong. Clement J. Zablocki was a fre-quent visitor to Milwaukee’s VA hospi-tal, which now bears his name.

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men earned the honor and respectof their countrymen, and VA hon-ored them by naming medical cen-ters in their memories.

Audie L. MurphyThe Audie L. Murphy Veterans

Hospital in San Antonio, Texas,honors the most decorated U.S.combat soldier of World War II. He

earned every decoration for valorthis country could offer, as well assimilar honors from Belgium andFrance. His life began in a family ofpoor Texas sharecroppers, and afterthe war, his achievements and con-tributions touched millions.

In January 1945, nearHoltzwihr, France, 2nd Lt. Murphy’scompany was attacked by six tanksand waves of infantry. He orderedhis men to withdraw to protectivewoods, but remained at his forwardpost ordering close-in artillerystrikes to support the withdrawal, amove that devastated the advancingGermans.

A U.S. tank nearby had taken ahit and was burning, threatening toexplode. With the enemy closingaround him, Murphy climbed ontothe burning vehicle and used its ma-chine gun to kill dozens of Germans,

ultimately stopping their advance.The Germans tried to eliminateMurphy, only to be destroyed as theyapproached his position. He waswounded, but continued to fight un-til he exhausted his ammunition. Hewithdrew to his squad and organizeda counterattack, causing a full with-drawal of the Germans. These ac-tions earned him the Medal ofHonor.

Murphy spent three years in ac-tive military service. He entered as aprivate, rose to the rank of staff ser-geant, and was given a “battlefield”commission of second lieutenant.He was wounded three times andsurvived nine major campaigns inEurope.

He was released from active ser-vice in September 1945. ActorJames Cagney invited him to Holly-wood to try his hand at acting, butthe succeeding years were tough,with the movie industry offeringonly small parts.

Then in 1949, Murphy playedhimself in the Hollywood release ofhis autobiography “To Hell andBack.” The film was a big hit, hold-ing the box office record until the1975 release of “Jaws.” Murphy’splace in Hollywood was assured andhe went on to star in 26 films,mostly westerns, over the next 15years. In 25 years of acting, he madea total of 44 films.

Murphy owned ranchesthroughout the Southwest, where hebred and raced horses. He was a pro-digious gambler, betting on horses,sporting events and cards. It’s re-ported that he won and lost for-tunes.

He is also known as a successfulpoet and songwriter. His composi-tions have been recorded by DeanMartin, Eddy Arnold, Charley Pride,Jimmy Bryant, Porter Waggoner,Jerry Wallace, Roy Clark, HarryNilsson and many others.

Murphy suffered bouts of de-pression, insomnia and substance

abuse as a result of his war experi-ences. Recognizing his addiction toprescribed sleeping pills, he brokethe habit by locking himself in amotel room for a week.

Audie Murphy suffered fromwhat is today known at PTSD. Un-til the 1960s, “battle fatigue” andother war-related mental illnessesweren’t discussed publicly. He wasthe first to do so, bringing nationalattention to veterans’ mental healthissues and making a lasting contribu-tion to their treatment.

Audie Leon Murphy died in aMemorial Day weekend plane crashin 1971 while on a business trip. Hewas 46.

Clement J. ZablockiThe Clement J. Zablocki Veter-

ans Affairs Medical Center in Mil-waukee, Wis., honors the Demo-cratic congressman who served hisconstituents for more than 40 yearsin the Wisconsin state house andthe U.S. House of Representatives.He represented the 4th U.S. Con-gressional District for a record 18consecutive terms.

“Clem,” as he preferred to becalled, was born into an immigrantPolish-American family onMilwaukee’s south side. Catholic-and public school-educated, with adegree in philosophy and advancedtraining from Marquette University,he became a high school teacher.He was also an accomplished organ-ist and choir director.

The dapper Zablocki was ashort, squat man with a dark, Tho-mas Dewey-like mustache and a re-served demeanor. Remarkable forhow unnoticeable he was, his styleand physical stature endeared himall the more to the public. Aboveall, he was much loved in his com-munity and a friend and advocatefor veterans, though he wasn’t a vet-eran himself.

Defeated in his first attempt atstate politics in 1939, he was elected

Murphy

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to serve two terms as state senatorfor Wisconsin’s 3rd district begin-ning in 1942. In 1948 he began hiscareer in the U.S. Congress, and wasreelected to each succeeding termfor the remainder of his life, some-times garnering as much as 80 per-cent of the vote.

His political views mirroredthose of his hard-working EasternEuropean immigrant constituency,embodying working-class patriotism,staunch anti-communism and reli-gious conservatism. Yet he was heldin high regard by liberals on eco-nomic and foreign policy matters.

He was a frequent visitor toMilwaukee’s VA hospital. In Con-gress, he rose through the ranks ofthe House Committee on ForeignAffairs and ultimately became chair-man, one of Congress’s highest-ranking posts, in 1977.

His leadership style was one ofreason and persuasion. Zablockihelped guide the passage of the WarPowers Act of 1973 through Con-gress with enough support to over-ride a presidential veto. This law,written in response to America’sVietnam experience, requires that a

President obtain theconsent of Congressbefore sending Ameri-can troops abroad formore than 60 days.

Cong. Zablockidied in his Washing-ton, D.C., office in1983. The VA medi-cal center in Milwau-kee was rededicated inhis honor in May1985.

Alvin C. YorkThe Alvin C.

York VA MedicalCenter inMurfreesboro, Tenn.,is named in honor of“Sergeant York,” a re-luctant World War I

draftee whose inner struggle andstrength led him from near-consci-entious objector to American hero.

He was born in the hills of Ten-nessee in 1887 and gained littlemore than a third-grade education.Up through his twenties, he wasknown as a backwoodsman with adeadly accurate shot, and ahellraiser who spent his time drink-ing, smoking and gambling.

In 1914, after a particularly hardnight of drinking and fighting, hismother somehow convinced him togive up his way of life. Religiousconversion soon followed. Hejoined the church and became anelder.

As he followed America’s in-volvement in the war, he feared that“we were only fighting for a bunchof foreigners.” York later wrote thathe received assurance from Godhimself that the fight was a righ-teous one and that he would comeout unscratched.

York was drafted at the age of30. His church pastor prepared pa-pers to exclude York from combaton religious grounds, but York re-fused to sign them. He was willing

to serve, but refused to fight andkill.

Basic training gave York his firstglimpse of the world beyond themountains of Tennessee. He trainedwith the masses of urban draftees,but stood out as an expert shot,though he objected to firing at hu-man silhouette targets.

After discussion and counselwith his superiors, York relinquishedhis pacifism. He was shipped toFrance in May 1918, and by the endof September, his unit had sufferedmany casualties to combat, artilleryand gas attacks.

In October 1918, while fighting

in the Argonne Forest, York’s divi-sion was ordered to take a strategichill and a nearby rail line. At zerohour, his unit went over the top ofthe trenches and, despite casualties,proceeded to take the hill.

They moved on to their nextobjective, the railway, but many inhis company fell to withering Ger-man machine-gun fire. His unit waspinned down, surrounded on threesides by enemy machine-gun nests.

York and a few of his squad qui-etly moved around the German gun

Ralph C. Zablocki and his wife Betty pose in the replica ofhis brother Clem’s Washington, D.C., office, which is dis-played off the east lobby of Milwaukee’s VA medical centeras a tribute to the late congressman.

York

JOHN ZEWISKE

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emplacements and ran into theheadquarters of the enemy unit.They quickly took the entire com-mand of largely unarmed Germansas prisoners.

York and his men planned totake their prisoners right throughthe enemy front line. Soon enemygunners pinned them down again,but York found himself at a vantagepoint where he could see the Ger-man emplacements, but they haddifficulty locating him.

As his men and their captivestook cover, York began picking offthe gunners one by one until he hadkilled more than 20 Germans. Oneof the German officers who had pre-viously surrendered witnessed York’sone-man assault on the German ma-chine-gun nests and told him hewould order their total surrender ifYork would just stop killing his men.York agreed and soon had nearly100 prisoners marching back tofriendly lines.

York was awarded the Medal ofHonor for his actions, including kill-ing 25 of the enemy, destroying 35machine guns, capturing four offic-ers and 128 men.

Upon York’s return to New YorkCity, he was singled out as America’sgreatest fighting hero. His home-town tried to build a new home forhim, but left him with a half-fin-ished house and a huge mortgage.He was wooed by big businesssearching for his endorsement oftheir products. He declined, saying,“This uniform ain’t for sale.”

York went on speaking tours toraise money for education, roads andjob training in his native Appala-chia. He considered running forpublic office, supporting HerbertHoover in 1932 in opposition toFDR’s promise to repeal prohibition.Roosevelt’s New Deal policiesbrought him back into the demo-cratic fold.

Alvin C. York died in 1964 af-ter suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.

William S. MiddletonWilliam S. Middleton Memorial

Veterans Hospital is physically con-nected to the University of Wiscon-sin (UW) Hospital in Madison, Wis.William Shainline Middleton,M.D.’s connection to both institu-tions goes back to at least 1955,when he left his post as dean of theuniversity’s medical school to be-come VA’s chief medical director.

Middleton was known as an ac-complished educator, physician andscientist. His service to medicine,veterans and the country spannedmore than 60 years, beginning in1911 when he earned his medicaldegree from the University of Penn-sylvania. The following year, he be-gan teaching at the University ofWisconsin Medical School, becom-ing a full professor in 1933, followedby his appointment as dean of themedical school, a seat he held forthe next 20 years.

Middleton served with distinc-tion in both world wars. As a cap-tain with the British and Americanexpeditionary forces in France dur-ing World War I, he was awardedthe Victory Medal with seven battleclasps.

Between wars, he returned toUW, where he continued to teach,as well as consult for the U.S. PublicHealth Service and the VeteransBureau, which became the VeteransAdministration in 1930.

In World War II, Col.Middleton was assigned to the Of-fice of the Chief Surgeon for the Eu-ropean Theatre of Operations, serv-ing as chief consultant in medicine.He taught medical officers at mili-tary field schools at various loca-tions. For this service he wasawarded the Distinguished ServiceMedal, the Legion of Merit withOak Leaf Cluster, the order of theBritish Empire and the French Croixde Guerre with Palm.

After the Second World War,Middleton returned to his position

as dean of the UW Medical School.He also acted as special advisor tothe Surgeon General of the Armyduring the Korean Conflict.

Public service called again in1955. Middleton took a leave of ab-sence from academia and was swornin as chief medical director for theVeterans Administration.

He was a member of the VASpecial Medical Advisory Group,advising on the care and treatmentof disabled veterans. He improvedaccess to rehabilitation services,mental health and hypertensiontreatment. He also guided the devel-opment of VA research programsand he initiated the establishmentof long-term patient care. He retiredfrom VA in 1963.

His career led to many profes-sional positions, including presiden-cies of the American College ofPhysicians, the Central Society forClinical Research and the AmericanAssociation for the History of Medi-cine. Dr. William S. Middletondied in 1975.

By Robert Turtil

Editor’s note: Look for a third install-ment of this feature in a future issue.

VAnguardaround headquarters

24 March/April 2004

MediaNet: The New, Easy-to-Use Digital Media Resource

The independent commis-sion charged with studyingVA’s proposal for realigningits health care system releasedits report Feb. 13, recom-mending to SecretaryPrincipi that VA invest bil-lions of dollars over the next20 years to enhance andmodernize an aging healthcare infrastructure and im-prove access to care for veter-ans throughout the country.

The report of the Capi-tal Asset Realignment for En-hanced Services (CARES)Commission culminated atwo-year effort—the mostcomprehensive in VA his-tory—to measure, study andanalyze VA’s aging health caresystem and plan its strategicdevelopment to meet pro-jected health care needs of

veterans through the mid-21st century.

It is now up to the Sec-retary to accept or reject thereport’s proposals.

The Commission basedits analysis of the NationalCARES Draft Plan devel-oped by VHA around sixcrosscutting issues: facilitymission change, community-based outpatient clinics,mental health services, long-term care, excess VA propertyand contracting for care.

The CARES study wasdriven in large part by con-gressional concern over VAand GAO studies indicatingthe department was spendingmillions each year to main-tain excess facilities andproperty, and VA efforts todirect resources to regions of

highest demand for services.News reports covering

the report’s release highlightfacility “closures.” Only a fewactual facility closures wererecommended, though therewere significant missionchanges proposed that wouldreduce some locations andincrease activity at others.Despite the recommendedchanges in these regions, thereport emphasizes that nohealth care services to veter-ans will be diminished. Theircare will be provided througha mix of local providers andother VA facilities.

The commission en-dorses a new VA hospital forOrlando and the possibilityof one in Las Vegas.

Commission ChairmanEverett Alvarez’s March 2

statement before the SenateCommittee on Veterans’ Af-fairs outlined the highlightsof the commission reportrecommendations. Those rec-ommendations also focus onother major issues, such asinfrastructure safety and seis-mic strengthening, medicaleducation and training, spe-cial disability programs in-cluding spinal cord injuryand blind rehabilitation, VAcollaboration with the De-fense Department, enhance-ment of space for VA re-search programs, and recom-mended health care deliveryinnovations such astelemedicine.

You can find the com-plete report on the CARESCommission Web site atwww.carescommission.va.gov.

Independent National CARES Commission Releases Its Report

VHA’s Employee EducationSystem (EES) has introduceda new resource for VA em-ployees who need to createeducational, informationaland recruitment productslike brochures, presentations

and Web sites. MediaNet is aWeb-based library of morethan 10,000 digital mediafiles: photographs, illustra-tions, logos, animations, au-dio files, small video files,text and templates. New files

are added to the collectionevery day, and the entire col-lection is available for use byany VA employee.

VA Medical Media Pro-duction Services, EES, theOffice of Public Affairs andother public and private sec-tor entities make contribu-tions to the library. The col-lection includes high-quality,high-resolution images cover-ing every aspect of VA activ-ity. MediaNet also has morethan 1,600 historical photosfrom the National Archivesthat can be used freely. Mostfiles in MediaNet have nocopyright restrictions.

MediaNet has advancedsearch capabilities, enablingthe user to get precise resultsby combining search param-eters, such as type of file(photo, illustration, audio),

description and/or producer.You can add items to yourbasket and download themindividually or as a group.

In addition to the largeselection of files, there are re-sources on media restrictionsand releases, including Gen-eral Counsel guidelines onthe VA Consent for Use ofPicture and/or Voice Form(10-3203), copyright issues,and Section 508 (accessibilitycompliance requirements) ofthe 1998 Rehabilitation Act.There are also links to otherfree non-VA sources of mediafiles, and VA design guides.

You can log on toMediaNet at vaww.mam.lrn.va.gov. For assistance using it,contact Deborah Sher at(631) 261-4400, ext. 7240,or Morgan Bantly at (202)745-8521.

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March/April 2004 25

around headquarters

Rancho Santa Fe is a wealthycommunity in southern Cali-fornia, but the veterans Sec-retary Principi honored thererecently showed him thattheir proudest accomplish-ments came as young sol-diers, sailors and airmen dur-ing World War II, not as

On May 29 at 2 p.m., the World War II Memorial on theNational Mall in Washington, D.C., will be dedicated andthe President will accept the memorial on behalf of thenation. Well over 150,000 people will be in attendance atthe ceremony. Many national leaders and well-knownsupporters of the WWII Memorial construction, includingBob Dole, Tom Hanks and Tom Brokaw, will participate.

The American Battle Monuments Commission(ABMC) is responsible for the dedication program. Allavailable free tickets to view the program—some85,000—have been issued and D.C.-area hotels are virtu-ally filled for that weekend.

ABMC has arranged for live video coverage of theevent. VA will transmit that video signal live via satellite

businessmen and entrepre-neurs. The Secretary recog-nized more than 60 men andwomen, all World War IIveterans, for participating inthe Veterans History Project,a national Library of Con-gress initiative intended topreserve the stories of our

nation’s war veterans. “Because of the Veter-

ans History Project, students,historians and families willbe able to visit the Library ofCongress and the NationalD-Day Museum in New Or-leans to learn about thesestories and experiences thatare an integral part ofAmerica’s history,” says FranFoley, curator and archivistof the Rancho Santa Fe His-torical Society. “Generationsto come will marvel at theircourage, their determination,and their sacrifices.”

Secretary Principi recog-nized the veterans at the his-toric Sammis estate in ElRancho, Calif., and pre-sented each a certificate ofappreciation and letter ofpersonal greeting from Presi-dent Bush.

“Your stories are morethan personal testaments ofanother time and anotherplace or affirmations of brav-ery, dignity, and honor,” theSecretary told the group.“They tell of America’s deep

and abiding heritage, an en-during tale of patriots whofor more than 225 years havebeen willing to stand to thelast man to defend Americansoil. Your stories speak to theessence of what it means tobe an American.”

Secretary Principi saidlater, “This was a ratherunique group. They have ledlives of accomplishment andaccumulated considerablewealth. Yet, my presentationof a simple certificate andthank-you from the Presidentbrought tears to their eyes.Many told me that it was themost meaningful recognitionthey could recall. That’s howmuch their World War II ex-perience means to them.”

VA is an organizationalpartner with the Library ofCongress’s Veterans HistoryProject. For more about theproject and how you can par-ticipate as a volunteer or vet-eran storyteller, contact yourlocal VA medical center’sVoluntary Service or go towww.loc.gov.

over the VA Knowledge Network to all VA medical cen-ters for their local use. VA medical centers capable of re-ceiving the broadcast signal are being encouraged toshow the dedication ceremony to patients, staff and vol-unteers at the facility and use the event as an opportunityto honor World War II veterans.

The dedication will likely be the last mass gatheringof World War II veterans in Washington and in locationsacross the country. It offers VA facilities an opportunity torecognize the WWII veterans they serve directly andthose in the community.

Learn all about the monument and its dedication onthe American Battle Monuments Commission Web siteat www.wwiimemorial.com.

Secretary Principi presents a certificate of appreciation and letterfrom President Bush to WWII veteran Glenn Bell, founder of theTaco Bell restaurant chain. Bell was one of more than 60 men andwomen honored for participating in the Veterans History Project.

Live Broadcast of World War II Memorial Dedication Planned

Secretary Honors High-Achieving Group of WWII Veterans

VAnguardaround headquarters

26 March/April 2004

Retired Air Force Lt. Col.Lee “Buddy” Archer Jr. vis-ited VA Central Office onFeb. 19 to talk about his ex-periences as a Tuskegee Air-man during World War II.

Born in 1919 in Yon-kers, N.Y., Archer said he

dreamed of flying the mo-ment he saw his first airplaneas a young boy. But he al-most never got a chance. “Atthe time I didn’t know aboutdiscrimination in the ser-vice,” he said.

Outraged at the Dec. 7,

1941, bombing of Pearl Har-bor, thousands of youngAmericans flocked to mili-tary recruiting stations in an-ticipation of war. Archer wasno exception. “I was with abunch of young guys, someAfrican American like meand some white, and we weretalking about what we coulddo for our country,” he ex-plained.

He decided to enlist inthe Army Air Corps. Aftersigning his name on the dot-ted line, however, he discov-ered there were no air squad-rons for people of color. In-stead of flying, he was as-signed to an infantry unit atCamp Wheeler, about 10miles outside of Macon, Ga.“There I got my first realshock of being a person ofcolor,” he said.

Archer never abandoned

his dream of flying and byMay 1942 the Army AirCorps began accepting Afri-can American candidates forthe “Tuskegee Experiment.”He applied and went on tograduate first in his class.

According to his biogra-phy, posted by the Air Forceon the Gathering of EaglesWeb site at www.au.af.mil/au/goe/start.htm, Archer shotdown a Messerschmitt Me109 over Memmingen, Ger-many, on July 18, 1944. Hedestroyed another on July 20,and six more on the groundduring a strafing mission inAugust.

He added three morevictories in a single air battleover Lake Balaton, Hungary,on Oct. 13. By the end ofthe war, he had flown 169combat missions over 11countries.

Tuskegee ‘Red Tails’ Revisited During Black History Month

Before Secretary Principi named her VA’s chief of staff in2001, Nora Egan held leadership positions in Human Re-sources, VBA and Policy and Planning. On March 17, sheshared her perspectives as a top executive in the federalgovernment with VA Central Office employees at a townhall meeting kicking off headquarters’ observance ofWomen’s History Month.

Egan talked about her 30-year career with VA andanswered lots of questions. The VACO Federal Women’sProgram—sponsor of the Women’s History Monthevents—presented her with a hand-made afghan and acertificate of appreciation from the Secretary.

“I am very proud to have been a part of the VA as ithas grown, and continues to grow, into an organizationthat is supportive of one another, that is focused on ourmission, that is a One VA organization, and fortunateenough to serve America’s heroes,” Egan said.

“Women Inspiring Hope and Possibility” was this year’s Women’s History Month theme. Nearly 58 percent of VAemployees are women.

Buddy Archer spoke about his experiences as a Tuskegee Airman.

Chief of Staff Kicks Off Women’s History Month Activities

Nora Egan talked about her 30-year VA career and answeredlots of questions at a town hall meeting in headquarters.

ROBERT TURTIL

ROBERT TURTIL

VAnguard

March/April 2004 27

around headquarters

One of the biggest challengesfacing VA and other federalagencies is how to recruit ad-equate numbers of qualifiednew employees to replace thebaby boomers who will beretiring over the next fewyears. The challenge is mag-nified by the need to con-duct this search for fresh tal-ent in today’s highly com-petitive job market.

The Office of HumanResources Management inVA Central Office is tacklingthese issues through an in-creased focus on marketingand outreach to help VA at-tract prospective employees.

Its Office of Workforce Plan-ning and Office of Market-ing and Recruitment havelaunched several new initia-tives, and more are planned.

In August 2003, the Of-fice of Workforce Planninginstituted the use of volun-tary online entrance and exitsurveys for newly appointedand separating employees.These surveys provide valu-able information on why em-ployees choose VA as an em-ployer and why they decideto leave. Results are availableat all organizational levels foranalysis and appropriate fol-low-up action.

The entrance surveyshave produced some interest-ing results that will play amajor role in guiding VA’smarketing efforts, accordingto Mel Sessa, director of theOffice of Workforce Plan-ning and acting director ofthe Office of Marketing andRecruitment. As of Jan. 31,almost 5,000 entrance sur-veys had been submitted, a50 percent response rateamong new hires since thesurvey process began.

One significant findingis that 36 percent of respon-dents learned of VA job op-portunities from a VA em-

ployee. “This finding makesit clear that each of us canmake a difference by makingfriends and colleagues awareof job opportunities,” saidSessa. The second most fre-quently cited means of find-ing out about vacancies wasthe VA Job OpportunitiesWeb site, www.va.gov/jobs,which was cited by 18 per-cent of respondents. Surveyresults show that the follow-ing factors were cited by re-spondents in rank order askey to their decision to joinVA: retirement benefits; sal-ary; VA’s mission; healthbenefits; promotion poten-tial; and flexible hours/worklife programs.

VA’s Job OpportunitiesWeb site was redesigned inNovember 2002. The focusof that effort, said Sessa, wason making it “a more user-friendly site promoting VA’smission of service to veter-ans. Entrance survey resultsconfirm that our mission is amajor factor in attractingnew employees.” Since thesite was redesigned, the aver-age number of visitors permonth has increased fromapproximately 50,000 in No-vember 2002 to 121,000 inJanuary 2004.

The Job OpportunitiesWeb site has also played asignificant role in enhancedoutreach to veterans leavingmilitary service. Currentmarketing initiatives have ex-panded outreach efforts toevery branch of the militaryservices, with the ultimategoal of establishing directlinks to Military TransitionCenters (MTCs) around theworld. This effort has madeit possible for veterans leav-ing military service to access

Secretary Principi has directed the department to make one last effort to reach Ameri-can veterans who are former prisoners of war with a vital message: “Check your ben-efits eligibility with VA!”

This could be their last chance. VBA’s Compensation and Pension Service esti-mates the number of former POWs not on VA rolls at 11,000. “Since this group islargely composed of World War II veterans with an average age of 82,” said AmericanEx-Prisoners of War National Commander Paul Dallas, “the window of opportunity forbringing them into the system is rapidly closing. We must all act quickly.”

On April 9, National Former POW Recognition Day, VA formally kicked off an out-reach campaign aimed at these most difficult-to-reach veterans. In recent years, C&PService has double-checked VA, DoD and Social Security records searching for ex-POWs, particularly those who had not filed disability claims. The record search pro-duced contact information for roughly 27,600 ex-POWs, but that left another 11,000 ofthe estimated 39,000 living ex-POWs in limbo. To reach them, this new campaign is re-lying on VA employees, veterans service organizations, the news media, the Internetand grassroots communication.

VBA has upgraded its former POW Web site, www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Benefits/POW, and issued an updated brochure, “Keeping the Promise” (VA Pamphlet 21-01-1)outlining the benefits and special eligibilities available to former POWs. A new videohas been produced that will be used to orient VA employees and others to the specialneeds of and benefits for ex-POWs. And POW coordinators at each VA regional officeand medical center are working with veterans groups and other local organizations tocontact former POWs.

“Former prisoners of war sacrificed their freedom to protect ours,” said SecretaryPrincipi. “Now it’s our turn to serve them and to help them determine if they are en-titled to compensation, health care and other services before it’s too late.”

Marketing VA: Meeting the Future Workforce Challenge

Former POW Outreach Effort Underway

continued on page 28

VAnguardintroducing

28 March/April 2004

Dianne Dooley

Many federal agencies werereunited on Dec. 19, 2003,when they began movinginto the new federal buildingin downtown OklahomaCity.

Dianne Dooley, a voca-tional rehabilitation specialistwith VBA, survived theOklahoma City bombingand, almost nine years later,had no qualms about movingto the new federal building,located just blocks fromwhere the Murrah buildingonce stood.

Dooley began her VAcareer as a clerk in the loanguaranty division nearly 20years ago before transferringto the vocational rehabilita-tion division in 1990. She,like many moving into thenew federal building, experi-enced the tragedies of thatday firsthand, but instead offeeling fear she views themove as a positive step to-ward reclaiming her life andthe job she loves.

Dooley was on her wayto a 9 a.m. meeting at thefederal credit union locatedtwo floors below her fifth-floor office when co-workerDennis Jackson called to tellher he was running late. He

was three blocks away. Assoon as she hung up thephone, Dooley headeddownstairs to her meeting.

“The very second I hitthe bar on the stairwell doorto enter the third floor I feltthe explosion,” she said.“The door came back at meand threw me to the ground.I remember thinking that itmust have been that doorthat triggered the explosionbecause I felt it the instant Ihit that bar on the exitdoor.” Of course she laterlearned that it was not a doorthat was rigged with explo-sives but a rental truckparked in front of her build-ing.

“My first thought wasthat I needed to go back up-stairs to my office; then thestairwell started filling upwith black smoke, so Iwalked down one flight ofstairs to the ground level,where I exited the building,”Dooley recalled. “I was oneof the first out of the build-ing. Within minutes I was ina police car, and by 9:20 a.m.I was at the hospital. I was inshock and I just went into avery calm state of ‘this iswhat needs to be done’ sur-

vival mode. The magnitudeof what had happened didn’treally hit me until about twoweeks later.”

Dooley credits thatphone call from her co-worker with saving her life.The credit union where hermeeting was to take placewas completely demolished.The two ladies she was plan-ning to meet with thatmorning were not found un-til 10 days later.

The majority of thedamage occurred on thenortheast side of the build-ing—the explosion com-pletely demolished that por-tion of the structure. VBA’soffices were located on thefar northwest side of thebuilding and remained in-tact.

Dooley injured her footand underwent six surgerieson her wrist. Even thoughshe was out of work for sevenmonths, she says she neverreally considered not comingback. “I’ll never have a jobthat is more rewarding thanthis one,” she said. “I made aconscious decision shortly af-ter the bombing that I wouldnot let Tim McVeigh takethat from me.” Two other

VBA employees were injuredin the bombing and havesince retired.

Dooley says she neverhad any anxiety about mov-ing into the new building. “Iview it as a positive step,” shesaid. “It’s symbolic havingthe agencies back here to-gether. It’s almost like we’vecome full circle and we’reright where we’re supposed tobe. I saw a gentleman in thehall the other day from theDepartment of Agriculturethat I was acquainted withwhen we were both at theMurrah building. We justsort of nodded at each otheras if to say ‘we made it, andhere we are right back wherewe should be.’”By Yevonne Kielty

Dooley in her new office indowntown Oklahoma City.

VA’s Job Opportunities Website from a link on the MTCWeb site.

A number of other mar-keting initiatives are cur-rently underway. The Officeof Marketing and Recruit-ment recently completed asuccessful one-month pilotradio ad campaign in theDistrict of Columbia andNorth Carolina promotinghealth-care careers in VA.

This office is also developinga multi-purpose tri-fold bro-chure and CD-ROM thatwill be available to all VA or-ganizational elements for useat job fairs and other recruit-ment events. The CD-ROMwill feature interviews withveterans talking about thepositive difference VA hasmade in their lives and withVA employees discussingtheir reasons for choosing ca-

reers with VA.The brochure and CD-

ROM project is the first stepin a multi-phased effort totake a more corporate andconsistent approach to mar-keting VA, according toSessa. Modifications will bemade to the VA Job Oppor-tunities Web site and exhibitsused at job fairs and other re-cruitment events to incorpo-rate the same design, mes-

sage, brand and themes usedin the brochure and CD-ROM. “This approach istypical of that used by manyhighly successful companiesin marketing their productsor services, and enhancingname recognition with thegeneral public,” Sessa said.

Share your ideas or sug-gestions on VA’s marketingefforts at marketing andrecruitment@mail.va.gov.

Marketing continued from page 27

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March/April 2004 29

medical advances

Dr. Randy Kardon and the University of Iowa’s Susan Anderson review dataon the new optical coherence tomography equipment at the VA Iowa CityHealth Care System’s Eye Clinic.

Scientists Study GeneticEffects of MicrogravityA Russian rocket carriedbrewer’s yeast into space onJan. 29 in an experiment thatwill allow researchers tostudy the effects ofmicrogravity on the yeast ge-nome, the benchmark mi-crobe for studies involvingcomplex gene sets like thosefound in humans. Research-ers hope to gain insight intohow human genes respond tothe low-gravity environmentof space.

“This will answer thequestion of which genes givea cell a survival advantage inspace,” said Dr. TimothyHammond, assistant chief ofstaff for research at the NewOrleans VA Medical Centerand co-director of theTulane/VA EnvironmentalAstrobiology Center.Hammond and Dr. CherylNickerson, from the TulaneUniversity Health SciencesCenter, are collaboratingwith NASA on the study.

The yeast cultures ar-rived at the InternationalSpace Station in early Febru-ary. There, astronauts mixedthe yeast cells with a growthsolution to begin the growthperiod.

Later, they added a fixa-tive to preserve the cells. Theexperiment will remain inspace for up to a year beforethe cells are returned to earthand compared with controlgroups, one of which ismaintained in Hammond’slaboratory.

Gene May Hold Promisefor OsteoporosisTreatmentResearchers have identified agene in mice that may holdpromise for treating os-teoporosis, the bone-thinningcondition that affects an esti-mated 10 million Americans,

80 percent of them women.The study findings were pub-lished in the Jan. 9 issue ofScience.

The gene, Alox15, wasisolated from a chromosomalregion known to influencebone mineral density inmice.

“This is a major stepforward,” said the study’slead author, Dr. Robert F.Klein, a staff physician at thePortland VA Medical Centerand associate professor ofmedicine at Oregon Healthand Science University. Be-tween 60 and 80 percent ofnatural variations in bonedensity are genetically deter-mined, he explained.

The findings were of in-terest to pharmaceuticalcompanies, one of which hasalready begun working ondrugs aimed at alteringAlox15 activity, according toa HealthDay report postedon the popular Dr. Koopmedical Web site,www.drkoop.com. Dr. Eric S.Orwoll, the study’s co-au-thor, cautioned that scienceis years away from a cure forosteoporosis.

But the discovery ofAlox15 heightens under-standing of the bone densityloss process and increasesawareness of the specific re-ceptor pathway activated bythe gene. “It points the waytoward potent, useful humantherapies,” explainedOrwoll, who is also a staffphysician at the PortlandVAMC and professor ofmedicine at OHSU.

VISN 16 is Tops inDiabetes CareVA care for diabetes is betterthan private sector care, ac-cording to a study publishedin the January issue of theAmerican Journal of MedicalQuality. The study compared

performance measures forveterans being treated fordiabetes at VA medical facili-ties in VISN 16 with thoseof non-veterans at privatehospitals. Results rankedVISN 16 higher than the pri-vate sector national averageon all diabetes measures.

Researchers comparedVA measures with similardata from private sectorHMOs found in the State ofHealth Care Quality 2002report, produced by the Na-tional Committee for Qual-ity Assurance. The study wasconducted by J. Kalavar,M.D., and Hardeep Singh,M.D., of the Michael E.DeBakey VA Medical Centerin Houston.

OCT Debuts at IowaCity Eye ClinicEye care at the VA Iowa CityHealth Care System got aboost with the introductionof optical coherence tomog-raphy (OCT) imaging equip-

ment back in December. The$60,000 instrument, called“Stratus,” uses an infrared la-ser to measure dimensions ofthe retina and optic nerve.

The equipment was pur-chased with VA researchfunds for a study of opticnerve disorders conducted byDr. Randy Kardon, directorof the medical center’s eyeclinic. But it’s also availableto improve eye care for veter-ans at risk for glaucoma, eyetumors, diabetes or retinaldiseases.

In the past, clinic staffwould perform a Humphreyvisual field exam to measureperipheral vision or send pa-tients to the University ofIowa for an OCT test. Hav-ing the new equipment cutsdown on paperwork andsaves time, according to TerryHarkins, a health care techni-cian who operates the OCTinstrument. “All of us arelearning how to use it,” shesaid.

UNIVERSITY OF IOWA PHOTO

VAnguardhave you heard

30 March/April 2004

Taking time to say thanks

Showing their support

The Clement J.Zablocki VA Medical Centerin Milwaukee, Wis., will hostthe third annual ReclaimingOur Heritage event June 5and 6. The weekend activitiesinclude a patriotic parade, aCivil War skirmish re-enact-ment, WWII exhibits, con-certs and activities com-memorating the 60th anni-versary of D-Day. TheVAMC is one of three origi-nal Soldier’s Homes. Moreinformation is available atwww.soldiershome.org.

Staff at the Alexandria,La., VA Medical Centerhelped arrange a special view-ing of the movie “Seabiscuit”for a nursing home patientwho used to train horses.

Louis M. Davis, a Vietnamveteran and Bronze Star re-cipient, has lived in the nurs-ing home since 1997. Whenthe movie came out, his oldcollege roommate, Joe Sloan,contacted Alexandria VAMCDirector Barbara Watkins toask if she could arrange forDavis to see the film.Though they couldn’t make atrip to the movie theater, em-ployees in RecreationTherapy Service got a copyof the DVD when it was re-leased and held a specialviewing for Davis and 45other residents.

Veterans who distin-guished themselves in com-bat are being honored in theChillicothe, Ohio, VA Medi-

cal Center’s Hall of Heroes.The program began in 1999at the urging of Dr. JohnHofer, a dentist at the medi-cal center at the time, as away to honor veterans whoreceived the Silver Star orhigher military decoration.The concept was to recognizeveterans for their gallantry inbattle in the presence of fam-ily and friends, somethingthat may not have occurredwhen the award was initiallypresented. The inauguralprogram got a big “thumbsup” from the local press. Ithas since been incorporatedinto Veterans Day activities.Last year’s inductees includedAir Force Maj. WilliamHamm, whose daughter,

Employees at the VA Central California Healthcare Sys-tem in Fresno are showing their support for troops in Iraqby adopting paratroopers of Charlie Company, 1st Battal-ion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Divi-sion. Once a month, a group of 55 employees get togetherto pack candy, CDs, magazines and other items into carepackages personally addressed to 55 soldiers in CharlieCompany. They bear the full cost of purchasing and ship-ping the items. Their reward, according to Dwight D.Stadler, acting chief in Environmental Management Ser-vice, is reminding the soldiers that they are not forgotten.

Several recent episodes of the CBS television series“Hack,” a drama about an ex-cop turned taxi driver, haveincluded scenes shot at the Philadelphia VA MedicalCenter. Portions of the medical center were used to simu-late a patient waiting room, an emergency room, alawyer’s office and a rehabilitation unit.

David Morse, above right, who plays the principalrole in “Hack,” took a break from filming to visit patientEdward Williams, a Korean War veteran. “I’m honored tohave the opportunity to visit with hospitalized patients andthank them for serving our country,” said Morse.

Cathy Hathaway, is a nursemanager at the medical cen-ter.

The Warwick Vets Me-morial High School inRhode Island has a special re-lationship with the Provi-dence VA Medical Center.Students recently held afundraiser that netted $1,000to help the medical centerbuy new television sets forinpatients. The school princi-pal then got in on the effortby matching what the stu-dents raised, for a total dona-tion of $2,000. Thefundraiser was so successfulthat the school plans to do itagain next year during theNational Salute to Hospital-ized Veterans in February.

Members of the VA Lady Troopers team (left to right) RosalindBoles, Tammie Ellison, Robin Stripling and Sandra Macias.

ANDREW SCHELLER

ANTHONY SANTOYA

VAnguard honors and awards

March/April 2004 31

The Nursing Organiza-tion of Veterans Affairswill present their Pro-fessional Nurse Awardfor Clinical Excellenceto Barbara Zicafoose,R.N., an advancedpractice nurse at theSalem, Va., VA MedicalCenter, during an April22 ceremony in Tuc-son. The award recog-nizes Zicafoose for initiating innovative health carepractices and serving as a role model and mentor forother nurses during her 32-year career at the SalemVAMC. Cited among her achievements were helping de-velop the medical center’s Surgical Intensive Care Unitand Women’s Health Clinic.

Zicafoose

Merrill Benson, M.D., a staff physician at the Richard L.Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis and profes-sor at Indiana University School of Medicine, received theprestigious Pasteur-Weizmann/Servier International Prizein Biomedical Re-search Award in Parislast December. Theaward is presented ev-ery three years to a re-searcher who hasgained internationalrecognition for a majorbiomedical discoverythat has led to a thera-peutic application.

Benson was hon-ored for his pioneeringwork on protein de-posits called amyloids,which play a role inthe development of avariety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Huntington’sand multiple myeloma.

The Disabled AmericanVeterans, Department ofGeorgia, recognized LinnieBaker, an inventory manage-ment specialist in the Home-less Veterans Clothing Pro-gram in VA Central Office,for his work providing cloth-ing and other items forhomeless veterans in Georgia.“It’s a good feeling to knoworganizations recognize andappreciate the services weprovide to them,” said Baker,who has been with VA’shomeless veterans programsince 1996.

The White River Junc-tion, Vt., VA Medical andRegional Office Center re-ceived the Governor’s Awardfor Excellence from Gov.James Douglas during a Feb.18 award ceremony at Nor-wich University. White RiverJunction VA Director GaryDeGasta credited the entireworkforce for their commit-ment to quality improvementand pledged to “… remain

committed to improving oursystems and processes to bet-ter serve America’s heroes.”

The Alexandria, La., VAMedical Center is featuredunder the “Donor GroupSpotlight” on LifeShareBlood Center’s Web site,www.lifeshare.org. The spot-light recognizes medical cen-ter staff for donating 360life-saving units of blood—enough to save the lives of1,440 needy patients. Direc-tor Barbara Watkins receiveda special award duringLifeShare’s annual apprecia-tion luncheon on behalf ofall the facility’s blood donors.

Dr. Ross Fletcher, chiefof staff at the Washington,D.C., VA Medical Center,received the Excellence inClinical Care LeadershipAward as part of the 2003Mark Wolcott Awards pro-gram. The award creditsFletcher with being an “ex-ceptional leader” who hascontributed to improving the

quality and delivery of healthcare for veterans at the local,network and national levels.

Dr. Andrew H. Kang, aresearcher at the MemphisVA Medical Center, receivedVA’s highest scientific honor,the 2003 William S.Middleton Award, for hiscontributions to understand-ing and treating rheumatoidarthritis. The award includesa three-year, $150,000 re-search grant.

Joshua Lee Norris, a se-nior at Jackson Prep andyouth volunteer at the G.V.(Sonny) Montgomery VAMedical Center in Jackson,Miss., was named VA youthvolunteer of the year and re-ceived the $12,000 James H.Parke Memorial Youth Schol-arship. Norris, whose parentsJohn and Mitzi both work

for VA in Jackson, has loggednearly 400 volunteer hoursover the past four summers.Voluntary Service chiefDeborah P. Thomas calledhim the ultimate volunteer.“He haspassion,”she ex-plained.In an in-terviewwith theClarionLedger,Norrisreflectedon whyhe volunteers. “There’s some-thing special about servingthose people that served usand helped protect our free-dom. It made me morethankful for what they did,”he said.

Norris

Benson

Nurse excellence in Salem

International honors

ANN BENOIS

ANGELA TAYLOR

VAnguardheroes

32 March/April 2004

Antoine Bracy, above,a police officer at theLyons Campus of theVA New Jersey HealthCare System, was re-turning home one rainymorning when he heardcries for help. Crossingthe street to investi-gate, he found 79-year-old WWII veteran An-thony DeCrappeo lyingin water nearly cover-ing his face. DeCrappeohad fallen almost ahalf-hour earlier whileretrieving his morningpaper. His new artificialleg came off during thefall and he could notpull himself to safety.

Bracy helpedDeCrappeo get up andreattach his leg, andgot him back into hiscar. The veteran nowhas a strap that keepshis prosthesis in place.

Julie Hoffman, R.N.,staff nurse with the Salem,Va., VA Medical Center’sMedical Care Service Line,was staying at a hotel inDurham, N.C., when shenoticed a man wanderinginto the pool area who ap-peared intoxicated and un-steady on his feet. Later,Hoffman overheard someonesay, “Wow, he can hold hisbreath a long time.”Hoffman realized that theman had fallen into the pool,and she shouted to some by-standers to help pull himout. She checked for pulseand respirations; findingnone, she guided a bystanderin helping her perform CPR.The man regained conscious-ness before the ambulance ar-rived.

A recent workout at herfitness center was far fromroutine for Heidi McInally, aprimary care nurse practitio-ner at the Manchester, N.H.,VA Medical Center. Whilein the middle of her session,she saw a 31-year-old manon a treadmill collapse.Luckily for the young man,McInally was there to swinginto action. She successfullyresuscitated him before theemergency medical team ar-rived, intubated him, andtransported him to an emer-gency room. The young manis recuperating.

As an elderly widow andher son waited to see a veter-ans service representative atthe Milwaukee VA RegionalOffice, she began feelingfaint and collapsed to thefloor. Fortunately, the VAROhas a plan for such emergen-cies. Tim McCormick, a vet-erans service representative,assessed the woman’s vitalsigns and began mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as KimMichalowski, a veterans ser-vice representative, calmed

her son. When Kathy Friedl,Adrianne Waters-Fechterand Joyce Kaltenbach, allregistered nurses working inthe rating board, arrived andfound the woman unrespon-sive, they began CPR. Sincethe widow had no pulse, Wa-ters-Fechter used the defibril-lator that had recently beeninstalled at the VARO. Herpulse did not return, and theunit indicated it should notbe used again. At that point,two-person CPR was re-started, with the nurses tak-ing turns. Beth Lambert,team supervisor, counted forthe nurses doing CPR, andTracy Kukla-Lewis, a veter-ans service representative,went to meet the emergencyresponders. Paramedics ar-

rived and were able to restarther heart. She was trans-ported to a hospital and re-leased about three weekslater. Both the paramedicsand the ER team at the hos-pital credited the VARO staffwith saving the woman’s life.

Mountain Home,Tenn., VA Medical Centeremployee Clara Burrough,R.N., was driving homewhen she saw a child runinto the street. The 6-year-old had left home withouthis parents’ knowledge. Thechild ran onto a busy high-way and was struck by a hit-and-run driver. Burrough im-mediately went to see whatshe could do for the youngvictim. She assessed the in-jured youngster and adminis-

Two Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System em-ployees were first on the scene of a fatal auto accidentinvolving five teenagers. Bernard L. Nunley, who worksin Prosthetics andis a retired militarymedic, and his wifeMarty L. Nunley, acertified nursepractitioner and ba-sic disaster lifesupport instructor,helped treat thecritically injured.Two of the victimswere ejected fromthe vehicle and onedied immediately.Marty helped the second ejected victim, keeping her air-way open and maintaining cervical support. Bernard as-sessed the three victims in the vehicle, noting that onehad died. He helped care for the other two until para-medics arrived. He assisted paramedics by applyingtraction by hand while two paramedics placed a splinton one victim, who had suffered a fractured femur.

Bernard and Marty Nunley

First on the scene

Answering acry for help

tered first aid while waitingfor EMS to arrive. The childwas taken to a hospital andtreated for his injuries.

ROBIN L. JOHNSON

SCOTT R. SNELL