Dunkirk NY – Tony never liked Veterans Day. He would allow me to call him and wish him a happy Veterans Day, but I always had to endure a rant about his intense dislike for the “thanks for your service” bullshit. As far as he was concerned, the words meant nothing as long as he was living in an 8’X10′ dormitory-style room along with other veterans who were homeless, jobless, on methadone programs, or otherwise dysfunctional, and as long as he was receiving poor health care service from the VA.
Anthony J. Rasemus, May 2016
Tony died a little over a year ago, on Sept. 21, 2018, at 2:00 PM, in the VA hospital on 23rd St. in Manhattan. When I received the phone call from the doctor, I was standing in his room at the veterans shelter on E. 119th St. I had gotten up early and was driving down that morning to see him in the hospital, as I was told he was not doing well. I was supposed to be getting my first knee surgery on my left knee at the end of September, but when I was told he was close to dying I had to postpone the surgery and try to get back to the city. I had visited him the weekend before, and he looked very weak and emaciated. I stopped in his shelter room because he was missing his wallet and cell phone, and he thought he might have left them in his room when he was transported to the hospital after falling out of his bed (they were more likely stolen). I was two hours too late. It took me almost two hours to drive from E. 119th St. to E. 23rd St., park the car, and walk up to the hospital room. Continue reading →