Newton man recognized for military service

Surrounded by family and friends, 73-year-old Merlin Hamilton leaned over to better hear the words being spoken to honor his military service.

Hamilton, who served in the Army during the Vietnam War, is now being cared for by Mercy Hospice at his home in Newton, and as a part of that service, he took part in the first We Honor Veterans ceremony on Monday.

“We would like to take this time to honor you for your service to our great nation. We recognize the sacrifices and hardships your endured to protect our freedoms,” hospice nurse Kendra Beckjorden said during the ceremony.

Sitting in his wheelchair on the back patio, Hamilton and his wife Cheryl joked she always calls him General Merlin as she pinned the veterans service pin onto his lapel. Although he has had struggles through his life following his time in the military, Hamilton thanked all those who came to recognize his service and what it had cost him.

We Honor Veterans is a national program founded by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Elaine Lundstrom, a social worker with hospice of Johnston, outlined the program at a Mercy Hospice volunteer meeting at Skiff as it rolls out the program.

“It is a program that was developed about five years ago when these two organizations realized military service is really a big part of this and so often it has just been set aside in this society,” Lundstrom said.

Through We Honor Veterans, Mercy Hospice honors those veterans in the ending stages of life along with helping them work through any thoughts or experiences they want to share about their military service. By recognizing the unique needs of veterans and their families, care providers can learn how to accompany and guide them through their life stories toward a more peaceful ending, she said.

“If we know about military service and that there was some trauma there, our goal as professionals is to help that person if they are willing and able to work through some of that,” Lundstrom said.

As a provider, Lundstrom said she initiates contact about any patient’s military service and experiences. If the patient is willing to speak about their service and wishes to participate in the We Honor Veterans ceremony she makes the arrangements.

The ceremony can take place in the veteran’s home or at the facility where they are residing. It begins with the hospice workers introducing themselves and giving a background on the program. The Pledge of Allegiance is then recited and, if appropriate, the Soldier’s Psalm is read.

Following the Psalm reading, the pinning ceremony takes place and a veterans poem is read. A blanket made by the Iowa National Guard Auxiliary is presented to the veteran along with a certificate of appreciation and “God Bless America” is sung to conclude the ceremony.

“It becomes a trigger for stories that are told. I can picture time after time they say, bring out my uniform, I want it displayed on the mantle, bring this article that told about the time because there may be grandchildren or great-grandchildren present who hadn’t heard the story,” Lundstrom said.

When the program started in Johnston, those coordinating it only planned to serve veterans if they were awake, alert and able to participate in the ceremony to help them process their end of life. Not long into the program, they learned they also needed to serve the families who may have loved ones that are non-responsive or very close to the end of their life.

“We certainly believe that people are hearing until the moment they die. When we are having a ceremony we know at some level they are taking in what is happening around them,” Lundstrom said. “We may not see the impact that it has on the one who is dying but we have to believe it is there. The impact for the family was incredible because they had a chance to say what they needed to say.”

Looking to the future, Lundstrom plans to begin incorporating a veteran-to-veteran program in the next year. The new aspect of the program would bring veterans from the community in to speak with veterans in hospice.

“Veterans are able to listen in a way that as professionals we may be trained to do, but there is a different sense of connection there and there may be the opportunity for resolution,” Lundstrom said.

With one ceremony already completed, the program is off to a strong start at Skiff and with the help of nursing professionals and dedicated volunteers it has a bright future.

“Thank you all so much for coming, I appreciate it,” Hamilton said as the ceremony came to a close.

He then spent the next several minutes talking about his experiences in the military and how it impacted the rest of his life. Surrounded my family and friends, the ceremony celebrated the sacrifice of a veteran whose journey began many miles ago.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com