214th FiB gives valentines to veterans

By Capt. Charlie Dietz, 214th Fires Brigade PAOFebruary 21, 2013

Veteran to veteran
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SILL, Okla.-- Commanders, sergeants major and first sergeants from the 214th Fires Brigade traveled to Dallas, to visit veterans Feb.14 at the nation's second largest Veterans Affairs medical center.

Leaders handed out Valentine's Day cards to the veterans and took time to talk with them about how their care was going, along with discussions about their past military service. The Soldiers visited with veterans just walking by, and with those residing in the hospital for long-term care. Each location they visited the veterans' eyes lit up and the story telling quickly began.

"It's nice for these veterans to have some military visitors come in as they often get beauty queens and politicians, so having someone who they can discuss military stories with is very enjoyable for them," said Bobby Kay Scoggins, North Texas VA director of volunteers.

The visit not only lifted the spirits of the patients, but all of those involved.

"We are out here today to foster our relationship with our veterans who have paved the way for what we have today and remind them that we care," said Col. Timothy Daugherty, 214th FiB commander. "We often say that we support our troops and our veterans. But, we wanted to make sure we showed it by coming down and spending some quality time with these men and women, and growing our relationship with the veteran community along with building esprit de corps."

One veteran summed up how he and many of his fellow veterans felt about the 214th FiB Soldiers visiting.

"This is great to have you all here and will make us all feel better. We really like seeing troops here even though you're not the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, who are supposed to be around today," the Vietnam veteran and former 101st Airborne Division Soldier said.

"It was such a great experience to talk to these veterans about their time in the service. They seemed very interested in us, and we were very interested to hear their stories. It was funny to hear them make fun of the same things that we do today, such as brand new lieutenants," said one 214th FiB captain. "It is also great to see that veterans are getting such good care, as I think all of us here are picturing ourselves in similar situations in the future."

The trip was in the middle of National Salute to Veteran Patients week which aimed to pay tribute and express appreciation to veterans, and to increase community awareness of the role of VA health care. The week also served to encourage citizens to visit hospitalized veterans and to become volunteers.

While in Dallas, the Soldiers also visited AAFES headquarters and learned about the operations within an organization that is so important to Soldiers throughout the world.