Veterans Run Into Problems with VA Transplant Coverage

As veterans die while waiting for organ transplants, Texans lead fight to fix VA policy
Dallas Morning News
Camille Caldera
July 6, 2017

The Nelsons decided to pay for the surgery with Medicare and assistance from the hospital, which donated some services. Later, the VA apologized and agreed to cover the deductibles from the operation.

Tamara, left, Charles, and Coty Nelson pose for a photograph at their Leander, Texas home Sunday, July 2, 2017.

(Ryan Michalesko/Staff Photographer)

WASHINGTON — When Charles Nelson — a disabled Army veteran from Leander — learned he would need a kidney transplant, his son volunteered.

Coty Nelson, 28, was a perfect match. And the Nelsons qualified for a program called Veterans Choice that let them receive care at a local facility instead of traveling out of state to a Veterans Affairs transplant center.

But Coty isn't a veteran — so that means they couldn't get coverage under the program. Other veterans seeking transplants from civilians also have been affected, and Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock, has introduced a bill in Congress to allow coverage for civilian-to-veteran transplants.
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Vietnam Veteran Tribute to Fallen and Grieving Famiies

Vietnam War Veteran Provides Grieving Military Families Comfort by Sketching Fallen Soldiers
PEOPLE
BY DIANE HERBST
POSTED ON JULY 6, 2017

Michael Reagan was a Marine during the Vietnam War and weeks away from coming home in 1968 when he and his unit were attacked with rockets. The strike hit a close friend, whom Mike cradled in his arms as he was dying.

Michael Reagan and some of the celebrity portraits he drew COURTESY MICHAEL REAGAN

“At the last second he looked at me and said, ‘Mike I just want to go home’ and he died,” recalls Reagan of that heartbreaking moment. “I see his face every day.”

When Reagan returned home grateful to be alive, “I knew I had a debt,” he tells PEOPLE.

Reagan, an artist who worked for the University of Washington, found a way to begin repaying that debt. He drew signed portraits of the biggest celebrities in the world that were auctioned off at charity events benefitting children and cancer research, raising over $10 million dollars for the nonprofits.
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Veteran Remembers the Day Sgt. Johnnie Mitchell Wahl Died

Vietnam Veteran meets fallen soldier’s family
Port Lavaca Wave
By MELONY OVERTON
Jul 5, 2017

Holmes’ fellow soldier and friend Sgt. Johnnie Mitchell Wahl was shot in the neck and died in Holmes’ arms.

It was Thanksgiving Day 1969. Weldon Holmes and his platoon were in Quang Tri Province in Vietnam not too far from the demilitarized zone.

“We were sitting around arguing over who was going to get the peaches and the pound cake out of the C-rations that went along with the turkey and dressing. The lieutenant came and said, ‘Why don’t you all load up,’” into armored personnel carriers, Holmes said.

Leading up to that fateful day, Holmes had facilitated seven days of R and R (rest and recuperation) to Sydney Australia to celebrate his 21st birthday Nov. 20.

“I really didn’t want to come back, but I couldn’t see leaving friends and brothers that…you get real close when you have to depend on somebody to protect your life 24/7. I got back to my unit on Nov. 23,” he said.

The platoon watched as jets 3,000 meters away flew their missions.

“You could still feel the ground shake. We got off (out of the carriers) to pick up bodies (of the enemy). We tried to do the right thing by leaving them for their families because the Viet Cong came from that area,” he said. “Arms were here. A leg was there next to a torso mutilated from explosions.”

“I was the only one to call them about Johnnie. They were told his whole company had been wiped out and that the ones who died were missing in action, but that made me mad because he (Johnnie) was never missing in action. We didn’t leave them behind because their bodies would have been mutilated so badly if we did,” Holmes said.read more here

Hill 861 Vietnam Veteran Talks About Surviving Worst Day

Vietnam Veteran Larry Hester tells the story of fighting on Hill 861
ABC News Channel 9
Josh Roe
July 5, 2017

WALKER COUNTY, Ga. — The walls in Larry Hester's office will tell you a lot about the man. A plaque hangs behind his desk that reads Walker County Veteran of the year 2007. It's right next to his 2014 Charles Coolidge veteran of the year.

There's a shadow box with a Purple Heart, and many other decorations from eleven months, and twenty days in country in Vietnam. These things that hang on these walls tell a story, but it's not the whole story.

"Easter Sunday is the worst day of my life," Vietnam Veteran Larry Hester said.

It was Easter 1967. The fighting there has been called the First Battle of Khe Sanh or the Hill Fights. Larry Hester was with the 9th Marines.
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Body Found in Nolan Creek Was Fort Hood Soldier

Man found dead by creek ID’d as Fort Hood soldier
Killeen Daily Herald
By Josh Sullivan and Jacob Brooks
Herald staff writers
July 5, 2017

The man found dead along Nolan Creek in Killeen on Monday evening was identified as Anthony Ray Lovell, a 40-year-old staff sergeant at Fort Hood, officials and family members confirmed.

His death was ruled an accident by the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences at Dallas. Cause of death is multiple blunt force injuries.

Killeen police were called just after 8 p.m. after the body was reportedly found behind the Brookfield Mobile Home Park near Bishop Street, police spokeswoman Ofelia Miramontez said.
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