I have spent my whole working career at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
With the words, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan,” President Lincoln affirmed the government’s obligation to care for those injured during the war and to provide for the families of those who perished on the battlefield.
A pair of metal plaques bearing those words flank the entrance to the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA is the federal agency responsible for serving the needs of veterans by providing health care, disability compensation and rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, burial in a national cemetery, and other benefits and services.
The VA lost two brave employees at Fort Hood and one was injured. My prayers are with the families of all who are touched by this tragedy. Thank you for serving our country and keeping us safe. The article is from the Washington Post.
The Washington Post
By Ed O'Keefe
The
Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday paid tribute to two employees who were among those
killed during last Thursday's
shootings at Fort Hood, and a third who was injured. All three employees were preparing to deploy overseas as uniformed members of the military.
Russell G.
Seager, 51, a nurse practitioner at the
Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee and Juanita L.
Warman, 55, a nurse practitioner at
VA’s medical center in Perry Point, Md. were killed. Dorothy
Carskadon, 47, a social worker and team leader at the
VA Vet Center in Madison, Wis., was injured.
Seager was a captain in the Army Reserve set to leave on his first overseas deployment, according to a VA statement.
Warman was a lieutenant colonel with the Maryland National Guard preparing to deploy to Iraq at the time of her death.
Carskadon is an Army officer who was also preparing for her first deployment.
"I offer heart-felt condolences to the families of these dedicated VA employees,” Veterans Affairs Secretary
Eric K. Shinseki said in a statement. “They devoted their working lives to care for our veterans, and they died in uniform, preparing to safeguard our Nation’s freedom.”
Shinseki will join President and Mrs. Obama and other government officials at Tuesday's memorial service at Fort Hood.
There are 18 VA employees stationed in a civilian capacity at Fort Hood, working at clinics and benefits processing offices. None of them were injured in the shooting, agency officials said.
More than 850 VA employees serve military commitments with the Reserve or National Guard units across the country each day, according to the department.
