Veterans Day and the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center

IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich – This Thursday is Veterans Day.

One of the biggest VA centers in the country can be found in the upper peninsula.

The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center is home to 57,000 veterans and provides primary and secondary health care.

John Jamison, the centers’ public affairs officer, explained the importance behind veterans day.

“I think celebrating Veterans Day is a great way to show appreciation to our nations men and women who have sacrificed and endured hardships in uniform to allow the general public the freedoms and liberties they enjoy,” said Jamison.  “Here at the VA, we work to fulfill President Lincoln’s promise “to care for him who shall have born the battle and who’s widow and orphan.” So that’s what we focus on when we come to work.”

Jamison said while veterans may have struggled to get services from the VA center in the past, the VA has become more accessible over the last few years.

“I’m a veteran myself so I receive services at the VA. I think because of that, the VA is more equipped and better equipped to service veterans as a whole because that is what we do everyday and I would say for a lot of veterans and older veterans, they remember when the VA was not so good a place to get health care, it wasn’t great to them,” Jamison said. “I can say now that the veterans I have talked to that have come back and tried the VA again, I can say they are very happy with their care.”

The center will host a Covid–19 and flu shot clinic tomorrow from 9 am to 2 pm.

Veterans, their spouses and caregivers are eligible to sign up.

To sign up, call 906-774-3300 EXT. 3315