Press release from AARP NC:
To honor their service to the nation, volunteers from the AARP NC Mountain Region are writing cards to residents of the NC State Veterans Home in Black Mountain.
“This was such an easy and fun way to say ‘thank you!’ to the men and women who have given so much to protect our freedom,” said volunteer Connie Olsen. “I have always tried to envision what a hard job it would be to leave your family and fight day after day for your country far away. Remembering them on Veterans Day is wonderful!”
AARP members wrote personalized cards to be distributed to patients and their families. Asked why she participated, Kim Dickens of Leister said, “My father, who was stationed in the Philippines just after WWII, will always be my hero. He was a dedicated family man who loved his country. The day he was boarding a ship to go to the Philippines in 1945, VJ Day was declared. He still went and spent two years repairing army equipment but saw no action. That was lucky!”
Arden volunteer Jeanine McClaughlin spoke of a more recent war in Asia as one of her reasons for writing: “My husband is a 20-year veteran of the Navy. Our family also just lost my sister’s husband from complications due to agent orange use in the Vietnam War.”
NC State Veterans Home is certified by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. They work in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Services to provide comprehensive, 24-hour care to aged and infirm veterans.
AARP North Carolina Associate State Director Rebecca Chaplin said the card-writing project to be just one of many ways AARP is helping serve and honor our veterans. To learn more about how AARP is helping veterans, military and their families, visit www.aarp.org/veterans.
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