Veterans Day at St. John’s: Honoring Those Who Served
Veterans Day has always been an important date on the calendar at St. John’s. Year after year, staff members across the St. John’s spectrum of senior services—some being military veterans themselves—work together to make sure veteran-residents feel loved and appreciated on November 11. This year was no exception.
Veterans Day 2022 once again featured special ceremonies at St. John’s Home and St. John’s Meadows, with dozens of veterans honored for their service to their country.
The past couple of years has seen the emergence of a new Veterans Day tradition at St. John’s Home. In November 2020—during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic—St. John’s Infection Preventionist and Navy Veteran Bob Wesley started visiting each neighborhood at St. John’s Home dressed in full miliary uniform. Wesley set out to spend a few minutes with each veteran-resident to thank them for their service on Veterans Day, despite the full house quarantine. “When nobody could come in a visit and spend time with the veterans, I took that upon myself to make this day special to them,” explained Wesley.
This year, a few of Wesley’s visits to veterans at St. John’s Home were featured by 13 WHAM news in a story from Don Alhart. The piece showed how important it has been for residents to receive Veterans Day recognition despite the challenges caused by the pandemic. ” It’s an honor to have someone like that care enough to this day to take care of guys like us that served years, years back,” said resident and U.S. Army veteran Raymond McAvoy.