Letter writer: Veterans, thank you for your service

Cynthia Breyfogle

On this Veterans Day, communities across the country will pause and reflect on the sacrifices and contributions of selfless men and women – past and present — who answered our nation’s call to preserve our freedom and the way of life we hold dear.

As the Charles George VA Medical Center director, I am proud to be entrusted with a revered mission — to provide excellent health care to our veterans that improves their health and well-being. I am grateful that our team of dedicated professionals, many of whom are also veterans, share a personal connection to the mission of the VA and give their best each day to ensure our veterans receive timely access to quality, patient-centered care.

On this day and every day, we owe each veteran the honor and respect commensurate with their selfless service and sacrifices to our country. It is our privilege to be in their debt for all they have given to us.

To all veterans — thank you for your service.

— Cynthia Breyfogle
Director
Charles George VA Medical Center

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11 thoughts on “Letter writer: Veterans, thank you for your service

  1. boatrocker

    Happy Armistice Day, named after Nov 11,1918 11am when hostilities ceased.

    • Phil Williams

      A note of historical interest – the officially recognized last casualty of the Great War was Private George E. Ellison, Royal Irish Lancers, who was killed by a sniper at 0930 on 11 November 1918. By a bizarre coincidence, his grave in St. Symphorien Cemetery near Mons, Belgium, directly faces the grave of the officially recognized first British casualty of the Great War – Private John Parr, Royal Middlesex Regiment, who was killed at the Battle of Mons on 21 August 1914.

    • boatrocker

      Anybody who smugly answers “You’re welcome” to that either never served or is off their meds.

      • Mike

        That is an ignorant comment. I often reply that way when some one thanks me for my service as an Army Officer in the Vietnam era.

        • boatrocker

          Given certain posters’ tendency to ahem, embellish in terms of facts here, I’d say I’m being prudent, as with also reminding folks that certain sites also exist in order to weed the chaff from the real deal.

        • Phil Williams

          I was thinking the same thing – saying “you’re welcome”, “de nada”, “sehre bitte”, etc., is usually considered a normal, gracious response when you are thanked for something. I am often thanked for my service especially when in uniform (even though the only blood I’ve shed in almost 30 years of service has been by way of paper cuts – and I once gained 12lbs in a combat zone) – I always smile and generally respond with either “You’re welcome” or “Thank YOU – for keeping us in your thoughts!”

  2. Phil Williams

    Thank you, Ma’am, for running a splendid organization – the Asheville VA Hospital should be the national model for VA healthcare facilities. As a NC State Veteran Service Officer and as a patient, I was continually impressed with the facility and the quality of care.

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