Daneva Marshall suffered blast exposure – an injury that can cause both physical and mental trauma — while serving in the U.S. Army in the Iraq war.
She was medically retired after more than 15 years of service to begin the journey to recovery. On June 6 – D-Day – she was leading a rally in front of the Chico VA Clinic to oppose cutbacks to VA services.
“This is personal to me,” Marshall told ChicoSol. “I utilize these services. I don’t think I’d be here without the VA.”
Marshall said she just completed the eight-week Intensive Pain Rehabilitation Program the local clinic offers.
Marshall had plenty of company last week at the Unite for Veterans rally on Concord Avenue. About 230 people joined the group Marshall has organized, the Veterans Action Group, waving flags and hoisting signs that often bore pictures of loved ones.
People greeted fellow demonstrators warmly, sometimes asking each other to share stories about the veterans in their photographs. But their signs were pointed, demanding that the VA be left intact and in some cases, reflecting anger with Trump Administration cuts and proposed cuts.
The VA under this administration has indicated it could eliminate tens of thousands of positions; those cutbacks would affect services that are particularly critical for suicide and homelessness prevention, Marshall said. An early-retirement offer has already cost the local clinic one mental health care position, she added.
“Losing one position is a big deal,” Marshall said. “They want to privatize [the VA] and make it for profit. We don’t want that. We want [the U.S. government] to keep Lincoln’s Promise.”
President Abraham Lincoln, in his Second Inaugural Address, argued that it is the government’s duty, “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” That quote became the inspiration for the VA’s mission.
Robert Van Fleet, a demonstrator, noted the national discussion underway about “curtailing veterans benefits.”
“This is just one manifestation of what the Project 2025 fascists are doing to our country,” Van Fleet said. “It’s being done to benefit billionaires at the expense of the vast majority of people. Who knows how far this is going to go. We’ve got to really get organized and fight back together.”
Olympia Foster said she’s “worried about veterans services”; her mother served in the U.S. Navy and her father the Army. “They’re cutting everything that helps people,” Foster said.
The Veterans Action Group received help in organizing the rally from the Defenders of Democracy Coalition as rallies nationwide were held on D-Day. That day commemorates the June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy, France, that marked a turning point in World War II.
Other groups have organized upcoming protests as well. Indivisible Chico and other groups will hold a protest at 10 a.m. June 14 called “No Kings – Take Back Our Flag!” as part of a nationwide mobilization. Organizers say people will gather at the Our Hands sculpture for a peaceful march to show that “no one is above the law.”
Leslie Layton is editor of ChicoSol.
This is such a pile of bullshit misinformation – the VA has always been a pile of shit and needs a total house cleaning. This is not about cutting benefits.