Legislator vows to aid vets
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JACKSON — A state representative with a military background pledged Tuesday to try to shield Louisiana’s veterans programs from devastating budget cuts during the next legislative session.
State Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, told a Veterans Day audience at the Louisiana War Veterans Home that the Legislature must cut $1 billion from the state’s budget next fiscal year.
“It’s very important to do that in a way that honors our commitment to veterans. If we have an opportunity to save some money in our veterans programs in a way that does not diminish the services we provide or the quality of those services, we should do it,” said Edwards.
“But we should not try to save a dollar if that’s going to make it so that we do not honor the commitments,” he said.
Edwards graduated with an engineering degree from the U.S. Military Academy and served eight years on active duty, including service with the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.
Edwards noted that the United States now relies solely on volunteers for its military services.
“If we don’t honor our commitments to the veterans who served yesterday, how are we going to get these people to step forward today, knowing that they may not be taken care of any better, especially as dangerous as the world is today?” he said.
Edwards is chairman of the House special Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs and sponsored a bill last session to open Louisiana’s five veterans nursing homes to “peace time” veterans, when space is available and federal funding is assured.
The first person eligible for the program moved into the Jackson home in August and later was joined by another veteran who served during peace time.
On Tuesday, the home had 122 residents, including four women.
Sixty-one residents saw service in World War II, including six who also served in Korea and two more who served in Korea and Vietnam, Director Paul L.W. Jones said.
Jones said 58 of the 122 residents are between 81 and 90 years old.
Tuesday’s program coincided with the 234th anniversary of the U.S. Marines Corps. The oldest Marine present, 85-year-old Louis Bethune, and the youngest, Lance Cpl. Matthew Roland, were served the first slices of the birthday cake.
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