Connecting on an equal level: Veterans groups help each other

Brian Foster Arizona Daily Wildcat Air Force veteran and biochemistry senior Greg Stafford (center) volunteers his time at Tucson Veterans Affairs Medical Center on South Sixth Avenue. Without the hospital, many veterans would be living on the streets.

Members of a UA veteran's fraternity and the hospital patients they support used to be comrades on the battlefield. Now they're confidants in everyday life.

Greg Stafford, president of University of Arizona's Epsilon Tau Sigma chapter, said the goal of his organization is "veterans helping veterans."

Stafford, a 34-year-old biochemistry senior, is one of 18 fraternity members who volunteer weekly at the Tucson Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

"I felt like I had a need to help these guys out a little bit," Stafford said.

Most of the patients the fraternity members work with are Vietnam War veterans, and others have fought in every conflict since World War II.

Stafford said time spent at the hospital is sometimes heartbreaking - many patients will have nowhere to go once they are released from the medical center.

"Some of them are pretty messed up, recovering from alcohol and drug use, post-traumatic war syndrome," Stafford said. "A lot of them will be going back on the streets when they're released."

Stafford said his organization helps run social activities at the hospital. The patients' favorites are bingo and casino nights, he said.

"Many of the veterans are physically or visually impaired, so we help them play," Stafford said.

He said he hopes that if he is ever in a veteran's hospital, someone will take the time to help him.

"It's such a charge to see the smile on the guys' faces," Stafford said. "It makes them feel like someone cares about them."

Stafford said the patients connect better with the fraternity members because they have many of the same experiences, but said every person should look into volunteering with the VA hospital.

"It doesn't benefit anyone except those guys (the patients)," Stafford said. "But you really get a charge out of it."

Betty Larsen, the hospital's public affairs officer assistant, said it relies on people like Stafford and the Epsilon Tau Sigma fraternity to volunteer.

"Our volunteer program is such an integral part of our hospital, it helps put the heart into VA care," Larsen said.

Stafford agreed that employees' and volunteers' attitudes are important.

"The treatment they receive is not a charity - it's a right," he said. "Veterans get forgotten and people assume they'll be taken care of by the government."

Stafford said volunteering is more a responsibility than a résumé-builder.

"These people laid it on the line for all of us and it's our duty and responsibility to help them in their time of need," he said.