In this case6:36He served in the American army for 20 years, only to get veterans with e-mail fired
After 20 years in the American army, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Luke Graziani was proud to serve his country again by working for the department of veterans.
But less than a year after taking an oath to defend the American Constitution as a civil servant, Graziani received an email on February 14 informing him that his work had been terminated.
“I gave 20 years of my life to my country, and at this time when I saw this termination of my federal work, I really felt like I was alone,” said Graziani In this case Nile Kӧksal host.
“I think that many people do not understand this as an employee of the federal service, as I was, it is less a job and more a vocation.”
Graziani was part of a first wave of 1,000 job cuts to veterans (VA), targeting people who worked there for two years or less. Now 82,000 other workers will have to lose their jobs as part of a new wave of cuts.
An internal memo of the chief of staff of the department, Christopher Syrek, ordered the staff to work with the Ministry of Government (DOGE) of Tech Billionaire Elon Musk to reduce the levels of 2019 by 15% in order to eliminate waste “and to” increase the efficiency of the workforce “.
The defenders of Democrats and veterans have criticized this decision. But veterans are divided on the cups in the department which have long been plagued by allegations of poor medical care and excessively long waiting time.
The cuts are part of a wider DOGE public service purge, which has removed around 100,000 federal jobs through massage and mass layoffs this year.
Divided veterans
More than nine million American veterans receive physical health and mental health care, which manages an American budget of $ 350 billion and supervises nearly 200 medical and hospitals.
Graziani, who was an officer in public affairs at James J. Peters goes Medical Center in New York, says that if these layoffs continue, the veterans who depend on these services will suffer.
“The waiting times of the patients can increase. You know, the time necessary to get an appointment, the time necessary to see your doctor for the first time, or register, all these things will be affected by losing the people who are behind the scenes, which happens there,” he said.
Daniel Ragsdale Combs, a 45 -year -old navy veteran in Mesa, Arizona, worries about the future. He receives group therapy through AV for mental illness caused by a traumatic brain injury suffered in the exercise of his functions.
“I am deeply worried because the way was only great for me,” said Combs. “I am angry, upset and frustrated.”
Gregg Bafundo – which served during the first Gulf War and has nerve lesions on the feet carrying weight loads as a marine mortar – says it was injured twice by the Doge Cutts.
He lost his job as Wilderness Ranger and firefighters through the dismissals of the US Forest Service, and he will now have to turn around for his health care needs.
“They will put guys like me and my marine companions who count on the VA in the ground,” said Bafundo, 53, who lives in Tonasket, Wash.
But Stephen Watson de Jesup, in Georgia, – who served in the Marines for 22 years and receives care through the VA for a traumatic brain lesion – welcomed the cuts.
“We are not better because we are veterans,” said Watson, 68. “We must all take a step back and realize that everyone will have to take a little chin to master these budgetary issues.”
Richard Lamb, 74, from Waco, Texas – who was shot down twice in Vietnam as head of the army helicopter crew – said that the VA should be “cut to the bone”.
Lamb says that for decades, doctors will not diagnose compression fractures in his vertebrae, and he did not obtain the operation he needed until he saw a private doctor.
“I would be happy to see, not demolished, but cleaned, cleaned and rejecting,” said Lamb, who lives in Waco, Texas. “VA is supposed to be a wonderful thing for veterans. This is not the case. It fears.”
The Trump administration is standing. Anna Kelly, assistant press secretary of the White House, said that the president would preserve the advantages of veterans, but will not represent “bureaucracy and bloating” at the agency.
‘Absolutely crushed’
Graziani, on the other hand, says that he is not against the reform, or even the reduction in VA. But he says that it is done in an carefree way which does not take into account who does a critical work or shows respect for the people who served their country.
“There are ways to make things that make sense and that are reflected and carefully, and the way I was dismissed was not in mind of these things,” said the father of four.
“I was absolutely crushed. I raised my right hand and I took an oath when I accepted this position at the federal level. I thought there would be a certain sense of stability and permanence. But everything had gone in an email.”
With Reuters and Associated Press files. Interview with Luke Graziani produced by Chris Trowbridge
