VA Visitors

I would like to thank Katherine Ahlert for taking the time to write (Letters, Jan. 16) of her visit on Christmas Day to the VA Medical Center. She wrote of visiting two veteran patients and of how surprised they were that a “stranger” would take time just to visit and talk.

I would like Ahlert and the general public to know that it is just this kind of interaction with the community that the VA Medical Centers endorse.

This is the premise of the “National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans” that takes place each year during the week of Valentine’s Day. For the past 15 years, we have invited public officials, celebrities, sport figures, and the general public to come out and visit with our hospitalized veterans.

The national chairman of this year’s Salute Program will be film star and karate expert, Chuck Norris. First Lady Nancy Reagan will serve as national patron.

At the Brentwood Division of the VA Medical Center in West Los Angeles, we will pay tribute to our veterans on Feb. 12. To come out and visit on a day set aside especially for them, clearly lets them know that they have not been forgotten.

CHARLES G. RUNDELL

Chief, Voluntary Service

VA Medical Center

Los Angeles