It is hard to feel any honest hope for those many veterans being forced out of the Pete Wheeler Building domiciliary located on the campus of the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville by the government they trusted.

This building is named after the man at the head of the Georgia Department of Veterans Affairs — Commissioner Pete Wheeler. This is the same department that many hold responsible for the eviction of these honorably discharged veterans. Discharged veterans who were promised room, were promised board and promised the dignity that they deserved by Georgia’s Department of Veteran Affairs.

One tends to question just when the actual decision was made that worked to destroy the lives of these graying veterans and why?

Was the decision made just for the acquisition of this particular building in this particular area? Perhaps if they just looked, they would have seen that there were vacant buildings everywhere in that area.

Was this as a result of budget cuts? Perhaps the state should look at budget over-runs in social programs whose directives aid illegal immigrants who should not even be in Georgia. Why punish Georgia’s own military veterans?

Lives attempting to recover from personal stresses and trying to re-establish self-esteem by accepting the helping hand of the Georgia Department of Veterans Affairs suddenly being forced out into society’s dregs during one of the greatest economic lows in our nation’s history is not what these aging men expected from their Veterans Affairs commissioner or their governor.

In retrospect, I can only hope that outside help may be offered by local communities to these men in need. These needs include furniture, appliances clothes and housing. If you are in a position to respond, please contact the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milledgeville.

Hope is a last resort followed by prayer.

Robert A. Ward

Milledgeville