I was recently a patient at the VA Medical Center on the 6th floor at Syracuse NY. I'm not a writer and I can't remember if I ever wrote anything like this before but I'll try my best and if I don't use the right words, please forgive me. Recently, I had a procedure at the GI clinic, I was originally supposed to spend the night at the Valor Inn because I don't really have any friends or family that would be able to pick me up and bring me home, but because I was on anesthesia at that time they decided to keep me on the 6th floor ward so they would be able to keep an eye on me so I said OK that would be fine. On a cold day in January 1971, I was sent to the Vietnam War as a private in the US Army. I won't get into that too much, but because of that war, I have many issues and that's about it, because this is not about me. During my 24-hour stay, some issues arose, and Emma was my nurse until 8:30 PM and until 12:00 PM the next day.

There were some issues that kind of destabilized my PTSD symptoms, and I wasn't able to properly address these issues the way I would have liked. I tried to do the best I could, but I don't think I did a good job at that. I saw a person who was kind, very professional, and trustworthy, and that person was my nurse. I don't know anything about Emma. I had never met her before, and I didn't know anything about her; I only knew what I knew, and she was always there to help me, and I could tell that she just didn't do it because it was her job. I could tell that she did it because she really, really cared about her patients, and even though she had other patients to take care of, she always made it a priority to accommodate me, and I really, really appreciated that. I really don't have the words that I could put on this piece of paper that expressed my appreciation, but I just don't seem to run into many young people like that, I just wanted someone to know.

To put it plain and simple, she was a voice for me and trust me, she was very professional in everything she did and so were the other nurses, but Emma really stood out. I'm sorry to everyone in my purse if my personality wasn't the best because of my issue I wasn't at my best, yet the nurses were able to smile at me feel welcome and comfortable as best they could. As I said from the beginning, I don't write letters. I don't have a good vocabulary. Sometimes, when I talk, I use the wrong words, but I did my best today. I want to thank all the nurses on that ward, especially Emma, and I hope that she makes her entire career with the VA; we need more people like her. Thank you so much.