5 days ago
A different type of honor on this Memorial Day
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Not far from the world's most extensive naval base, symbols of gratitude were offered in memory of those lost while serving this country.
Don McAlister, 81, who served in the Vietnam War, comes from a long line of McAlisters who served the United States of America.
'I grew up military, so I've had relatives who died in the war and everything,' said the former Navy corpsman. 'To me, this is a day, not a celebration, but today's a day of, I guess, wishing and hoping that they were here. But they are here. They're here with us somewhere. Somewhere, they're with us.'
Del. Michael Feggans is proud of the years he serviced with the United States Air Force.
'As someone who served for 20 years, I know exactly how many veterans feel,' Feggans said. 'No matter if you serve for four years or 40 years, today really is about remembering everyone's service, remembering those that have passed away. No matter if you died in a foreign country, if you passed away in a training accident or like many of our veterans, that died , that die from the battlefield of the mind.'
He's also proud of a new law that rights a wrong on how the state has treated the families of service members who committed suicide.
'Those individuals did not receive the state benefits as others, so I fought for that,' Feggans said. 'That was a bipartisan bill that Gov. Youngkin signed, and starting this summer, those families will now receive the same real property tax benefits that others have received over the past years.'
For those who served and others, help is available 24 hours a day. Just call the suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
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