It served in the US military for 20 years, only to be released from experienced matters by e -mail

After 20 years at the US military, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Luke Graziani was proud to serve his country again by working for the Department of Veteran affairs.

But less than a year after swearing an oath to defend the US constitution as a civil servant, Graziani received an e -mail on February 14, in which he informed him that his job had been terminated.

“I gave my country 20 years of my life and at that moment when I saw this termination from my federal job, it really felt like I was just alone,” said Graziani How it happens Host Nil Kӧksal.

“I think a lot of people don’t understand that it is a federal service as an employee of the federal service like me less a job and rather a calling.”

Graziani was part of a first wave of 1,000 job cuts at Veterans Affairs (VA) and aimed at people who worked there for two years or less. Now it is expected that another 82,000 VA workers will lose their work under a new wave of cuts.

An internal memo of the head of the department of the department, Christopher Syrek, indicated the VA employee to work together with the Tech -Milliarch Elon Musard Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) in order to reduce the HR department by 15 percent to 2019 to “eliminate waste” and “increase efficiency of work”.

The supporters of the Democrats and veterans condemned the move. However, the veterans are divided into the department via cuts, which have long been plagued by allegations of poor medical care and excessive waiting times.

The cuts are part of a wider public service of Doge, which has already eliminated an estimated 100,000 federal jobs through buyouts and mass layoffs this year.

Veterans divided

More than nine million US veterans are obtained from VA physical and mental health care, which manages a budget of 350 billion US dollars and supervises almost 200 medical centers and hospitals.

Graziani, an officer in the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in New York City, says that the veterans who rely on these services suffer when they stop.

“The waiting times of the patients may increase. You know the time it takes to make an appointment, the time you need or register for the first time are affected by all of these things by being lost, and this is done,” he said.

Daniel Ragsdale Combs, a 45-year-old Marineveteran in Mesa, Arizona, is concerned about the future. He receives group therapy by the VA for mental illnesses, which is taught by a traumatic brain injury that is carried out on duty.

“I am deeply concerned because the VA was nothing but great for me,” said Combs. “I am angry, upset and frustrated.”

Gregg Bafundo, who served during the first Gulf War and his feet by wearing loads on weight as a marine mortar, said he was damaged twice through the Doge cuts.

He lost his job as a wilderness ranger and firefighter through the layoffs in the US Forest Service, and he now has to turn back to VA for his needs of healthcare.

“You will bring people like me and my marines who rely on the VA in the ground,” said Bafundo, 53, who lives in Tonasket, Wash.

Stephen Watson from Jesup, Ga. -, who served in the Marines for 22 years and was provided for a traumatic brain injury by VA, welcomed the cuts.

“We are not better because we are veterans,” said Watson (68). “We all have to step back and realize that everyone has to take a little on the chin to control these budget affairs.”

Richard Lamb, 74, from Waco, Texas, who was shot down twice in Vietnam as a helicopter crew boss in Vietnam, said the VA should be cut “until the bones”.

Lamb says that VA doctors could not diagnose compression fractures in his vertebrae for decades, and he only received the operation he needed until he saw a private doctor.

“I would be happy to see VA, not torn down, but tidy, tidy and reorganized,” said Lamb, who lives in Waco, Texas. “The VA should be a wonderful thing for veterans. It is not. It is shit.”

The Trump administration is in the move. Anna Kelly, a deputy spokesman for the White House, said that the president would preserve the advantages of the veterans, but not stand for the “bureaucracy and the inflation” of the agency.

“Absolutely crushed”

Graziani meanwhile says that he is not against reforming or even the retroactive effect of VA. But he says that it is done carelessly that does not take into account who does critical work or have respect people who have served their country.

“There are ways to do things that make sense and that are thoughtful and with care, and the way I was ended was not in mind with one of these things,” said the father of four fours.

“I was absolutely depressed. I lifted my right hand and swore an oath when I accepted this position at the federal level. I thought that there would be a feeling of stability and resistance. But everything was only gone in an e -mail.”

With files from Reuters and the Associated Press. Interview with Luke Graziani by Chris Trowbridge produced