President Jimmy Carter Passed Away Today, Dec. 29th, 2024
President Jimmy Carter, Veteran U.S. Navy, Nobel Prize Peacemaker and Champion of Veterans—October 10, 1924 – December 29, 2024.
It is with great sadness and the highest respect that I send my condolences to the Carter family. No president has positively changed the lives of Veterans more than President Carter, in whose presidency the Vet Centers became a reality in 1979. They now number over 300 across the nation.
President Carter played a significant role in caring for Veterans. As a US Army psych officer in Vietnam, when I returned home, the Los Angeles VA asked me to determine why Vietnam Vets were not using the VA to get help with readjustment. Being one of those Vietnam Vets, I knew why. I began holding rap groups throughout the community, finding places where Vets felt comfortable and could talk, Vet-to-Vet.
In 1974. Senator Allen Cranston sent combat Army Veteran Max Cleland, a Vietnam triple amputee, to LA to find out what was going on with Vietnam Vets. I pushed Max’s wheelchair all around Venice Beach and over the lawns of the VA hospital to see our Vietnam Vets. We all realized that this problem was much bigger than Los Angeles. It was a national crisis that needed to be addressed.
In 1977, at VA Secretary Max Cleland’s suggestion, President Carter invited me to Washington. Over 1977-78, we designed the Vet Center Program, based on the counseling model I’d developed in Los Angeles. Public Law 96-22 was passed in June of 1979. I was privileged to co-author the program and set up the first Centers. As of 2024, there are over 300 clinics and mobile units open. It is reported approximately a quarter million veterans, service members and their families receive readjustment counseling at the Vet Centers yearly.
There are so many things to credit this man of faith and integrity for, but many do not know the Vet Center program was created because of his administration.
We who served our country honor our 39th President and recognize his dedication to Veterans.
You can be a part of our mission to help Veterans by making a tax-deductible donation!
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