Veterans in Buffalo

William Yahn went to Buffalo, New York to participate in the 27th annual National Veterans Golden Age Games (NV/GAG) which ran from May 29 to June 5. This year, there was some confusion. A couple of months ago, the games were canceled for about 3 weeks due to lack of funds, caused by federal budget sequestration. The city of Buffalo and the state of New York intervened with the head of the Veterans Administration (V.A.) and President Obama and explained how that would hurt the city and the state economically. Some of the competitors had pulled out before the games were reinstated, having canceled flight plans and hotel rooms. However, there were still over 700 veterans from 46 states, the Virgin Islands, Guam and American Samoa participating in the games this year. The NV/GAG is a competition for veterans 55 years and older who receive health care at a V.A. hospital. The competition includes sports, games and activities such as bowling, swimming, shot put, discus, javelin, bicycling and air rifle to name a few. The competition is based on age, so that people are competing against people in the same age bracket. These are 55–59, 60–64, 65–69, 70–74, 75–79 and over 80. The oldest competitor at this year’s games was 94 years old. They are usually held at the end of May until the beginning of June. William Yahn went as a patient of the Jerry L. Pettis VA hospital in Loma Linda. He participated in bowling, air rifle, and quarter-mile bicycling. In bowling, his scores were 122 and 190 which were not good enough to win a medal. In air rifle, he shot a score of 39 out of 50 which won him a bronze medal. In the quarter-mile bicycling, he did not win a medal. While he was there, during the time he was not competing, he was able to go to Niagara Falls. He enjoyed the day at the falls as he rode on the Maid of the Mist, went to the Cave of the Winds as well as the aquarium, the Discovery Center, saw the movie that told the story of the falls and rode the tram that went to all of the different areas of the falls. While walking around Buffalo, New York, he happened to find a restaurant that was run by a high school. All of the cooks, cashiers and staff were high school students. They were supervised by teachers and health department employees. They served breakfast and lunch. The prices were very reasonable and the food was delicious. Also, the people of Buffalo were very nice to the veterans that were present at the games. As an example, Yahn was at a restaurant with about 11 other veterans and coaches having dinner. One of the restaurant’s regular diners called the manager over and asked if the Yahn’s group was of veterans participating in the games. After being told that they were, he picked up the entire check for 12 people he had never seen before, due to the veterans’ participation in the NV/GAG. Next year, the games will be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas. If Yahn is able to acquire the funds through donations and sponsorships, he plans to attend once again.