New City VA Community Health Center

John Grant, Rockland County's First County Executive, was a veteran of the Korean War. He was a member of the Marine Corps League and a former Commander of Leo Laders American Legion Post 130.  Mr. Grant understood that Rockland's veterans needed a combat veteran, one who had experienced what our veterans had experienced, to champion their cause.  He found that champion when he appointed Jerry Donnellan as Director of Rockland County's Veteran Service Agency in New City.  During Jerry's 30 years with that agency, one of the many projects that he proposed was for a veterans medical clinic.  County Executive John Grant supported Jerry's idea and, more than 30 years ago, the Agent Orange Medical Clinic was created at the Rockland Health Complex in Pomona, New York.

This veterans' medical clinic ran successfully for a number of years and continued as C. Scott Vanderhoef replaced John Grant as County Executive in 1994.  Jerry's vision, leadership, and lobbying the VA, led to the formation of the Veterans Administration establishing a "model" community medical clinic in Rockland County in March of 1997. No doubt, the successful operation of the Pomona Agent Orange clinic, was a good prototype for the VA to understand why a local community clinic was important for our veterans.  

The local VA Health Center in Rockland was the first of what has now become 1400 such local community clinics for veterans across the country....each serving thousands of local veterans.

It's a new year and many of us have new year's resolutions in place to take better care of our health.  One good way to start off the New Year is finding out further information about this community health center, created exclusively for our veterans.  It is there for you to use -- one of the benefits you have earned because of your service to this nation.  

You can find further information about our local VA Health Center through their website:
https://www.va.gov/hudson-valley-health-care/locations/new-city-va-clinic/ or just call them at 845-634-8942.  There are other such clinics throughout the Hudson Valley and across the nation that offer the same services.  So choose the one closest to you.

Here is Rockland County's Veterans Health Center:
New City VA Community Health Center
345 North Main Street
New City, New York 10956
Phone: 845-634-8942

Register to get care at our local VA Hudson Valley health care facilities located in New City.
If you are not yet enrolled in VA health care, the VA can help you apply in person or get started online. The New City VA Community Clinic was set up 26 years ago and is there for your convenience. These are benefits that you have earned for your service to this nation.
Please sign up and use the benefits that are available for you.

About VA health benefits:  If you qualify for VA health care, you’ll receive coverage for the services you need to help you get—and stay—healthy. Learn more about your health care benefits.  Call us:  

• Health benefits hotline:  877-222-VETS (8387)
• My HealtheVet help desk:  877-327-0022
• eBenefits technical support:  800-983-0937
• MyVA411 main information line:  800-698-2411
• If you have hearing loss, call TTY: 711.

• Treat illnesses and injuries
• Prevent future health problems
• Improve your ability to function
• Enhance your quality of life

• Your priority group, and
• The advice of your VA primary care provider (your main doctor, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant), and
• The medical standards for treating any health conditions you may have

Vet-to-Vet:  THE ROCKLAND COUNTY JOSEPH P. DWYER
VETERAN PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM
WEEKLY ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

HISTORY STORIES:  https://www.historynet.com/category/stories/

THERE IS NOW A FACE FOR EVERY NAME ON THE VIETNAM WAR MEMORIAL WALL

The decades-long Wall of Faces project, meant to humanize the names on the iconic Vietnam War memorial, is now complete.
By ZITA BALLINGER FLETCHER 8/18/2022

In the above photo, Pete Corrall touches his friend's name on the Wall in 2014 when touring the memorial with others who accepted Medals of Honor on behalf of a family member. (Department of Defense photo by EJ Hersom, DVIDShub)

The VVMF has spent over two decades seeking a photo for each name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.  The names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, better known as the Wall, will no longer stand alone.

There is now a face for every name inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., thanks to volunteer researchers. The Wall of Faces gallery, an initiative of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, is now finally complete after more than two decades of research, the VVMF has announced. Wall of Faces Gallery link:   https://www.vvmf.org

The goal was to collect at least one photograph of each of the 58,281 Vietnam War service members whose names are inscribed on the Wall began in 2001.  According to VVMF president and CEO Jim Knotts, the quest for photos was intended "to ensure that visitors to The Wall understand that behind each name is a face — a person with a story of a family and friends who were forever changed by their loss."

A VICTORY FOR VOLUNTEERS AND THE PUBLIC
Volunteer researcher Janna Hoehn, interviewed by Vietnam magazine in March 2022, https://www.historynet.com/researcher-seeks-help-finding-last-photos-for-vietnam-wall-of-faces-memorial/ spearheaded the effort to collect the last 18 names needed to complete the Wall of Faces earlier this year.  "His life mattered. Even if a veteran’s family is gone, we still need to honor him," Hoehn had said in her interview. "Whether or not there is any family whatsoever, each man’s life was important and we want to honor him."   The mission is now complete.

"I am thrilled beyond words that the project is completed," Hoehn said. "I am grateful for each and every volunteer, each newspaper that agreed to do a story for a little lady from Hawaii. I am proud of my work with this project and will never forget this time in my life."
Other volunteers who played a key role include Andrew Johnson, a Wisconsin newspaper publisher; David Hine, who first discovered the effort from a VVMF newsletter; and Herb Reckinger, who began searching for Minnesotans on the Wall in 2014 and expanded to other states.

Although the Wall of Faces now has a photo for each name, the VVMF continues to search for additional, higher-quality images and stories.  "We are still looking for better-quality photos for several thousand of the men," Hoehn told Vietnam magazine. "Some photos that have been submitted are obituary photos, high school yearbook photos or Polaroids from Vietnam."

If you’re looking to see where better photos are needed, you can do a search online through the Wall of Faces (https://www.vvmf.org.) It will reveal banners at the bottom of existing photos indicating whether higher quality pictures are needed. You can also visit the mobile exhibit.

"The Wall That Heals has a large-screen TV and slideshow," Hoehn said. "We are hoping for better photos of many of them."  In addition to more photos, the VVMF invites the public to share stories and memories on the online memorial to add to the legacy of fallen service members.