3 days ago
Veterans, supporters hold D-Day demonstration in Longmont
A group of demonstrators gathered at Sixth Avenue and Main Street in Longmont on Friday, the anniversary of D-Day, to advocate for veterans' jobs, benefits and health care under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at a time when VA jobs have come under threat of significant cuts by the Trump administration.
It's been 81 years since that fateful day when U.S. troops invaded Normandy in 1944, and some local protesters say they are still fighting for the same rights and protections that were promised to U.S. veterans back when the federal government first passed the GI Bill.
Longmont Community Drummers members Mary Rose, right, and Ann Hartzler, not pictured, play as demonstrators wave and hold signs during a rally to recognize the 81st anniversary of D-Day and to support veterans at Sixth Avenue and Main Street in Longmont on Friday. (Matthew Jonas/Staff Photographer)
Protesters huddled together on the sidewalk, holding American flags and signs that said 'Support Our Veterans' and 'Protect the VA.' Some of them played drums. Several cars driving past the busy intersection honked their horns or rolled down their windows to lend a whoop or cheer. Mary Kathleen Rose, a Longmont resident and local activist, brought her drum set and said she was out protesting to help drive change in the country.
Richard Kellog, a veteran who served in the Air Force during the 'secret war' in southeast Asia, was among the demonstrators. Kellog benefits from VA medical care, a disability pension and the college education he received through the GI Bill.
Kellog said he knows many veterans who are already being negatively affected by cuts to the VA, like the roughly 6,000 or more veterans whose firings have already reportedly hit. Due to labor cuts, the VA isn't as responsive as it needs to be, he argued. And he fears it will only get worse — he is particularly concerned about losing the pensions that he depends on.
Lyn Lowry, a local organizer, said she came out to rally for all the veterans who are on the verge of losing the benefits they fought so hard to gain. Despite the VA already being short-staffed, they've cut people, she argued.
One piece of collateral damage from VA staff cuts could include necessary medical research, according to Lowry, such as treatment for combat soldiers with severe wounds. 'These people fought for us. We've made a promise to them, and we need to keep that promise,' she said.
But across the street, a smaller group of protesters felt differently. Jann Ertl, a Longmont resident since 1944 and counter-protester, sported a Vietnam Veteran baseball cap and a jumbo-sized Donald Trump sticker poking out of the front pocket of his button-up shirt. 'As you can see, I feel a little differently than these other people do,' he said with a grin, pointing to the protesters across the street and then back at the MAGA sticker in his shirt pocket. 'With all these anti-Trumpers out here, I thought I would kind of stand out here and talk to people about all of the good things that Trump is doing.'
'Well, the way I look at it, Trump has a beautiful wife. He has lots and lots of money. He has lots of real estate and golf courses and things that will help him in his future life. But what he doesn't have is notoriety. He doesn't care about fame,' Ertl said. He argued Trump will be the best president the United States has ever had because of his unique ability to get his agenda passed, referencing Trump's 1987 book, 'The Art of the Deal.'
On a local level, Ertl said, he'd like to see a new governor come in and cut out wasteful state spending, too.
'When you drive around here in Longmont, you see all kinds of projects going on that the state should not be paying for,' he said, referencing the Colorado 119 Commuter Bikeway Project that's currently underway, with construction estimated to wrap up sometime in 2027, as an example. 'It's right down the middle of this very, very busy highway. People are going to get killed on that bicycle path,' he said.
Ertl is a Vietnam veteran and has had partial vision loss. 'The VA takes very good care of me,' he said. But they are often wasteful, he said, adding a personal example of an eye doctor insisting he get new glasses because they are covered by the VA, when his current glasses are perfectly fine. 'That's true waste,' he said.
'I've lived in Colorado since 1944, so you can guess how old I am. I'm a world traveler, and I think Trump knows what he's doing, and it's going very well for us.'
Across the street, friends Portia Buchanan and Ana Johnson came out to Friday's rally to fight against hate, they said. Johnson comes from a family of veterans, many of whom served in World War II. She brought with her a sign that had photos of all of the veterans in her family tree, pointing out faded photographs of her Aunt Opal, an Air Force nurse; her Uncle Bill, a paratrooper; her cousin Robert, who was killed in Vietnam.
'Veterans are a big deal in my family, and what the current government is doing is pretty terrible to our veterans,' she said, citing information on a flyer from that 1.2 million veterans live in SNAP-dependent households and that 80,000 VA jobs are potentially on the chopping block.
An estimated 30% of federal employees are veterans, according to a report on 2023 data by the Partnership for Public Service, a significantly higher figure than the estimated 5% of veterans in the overall civilian labor force.
'I'm very concerned because all of these people served to defend our democracy. Now it's time for us to do everything we can to fight for our democracy,' Johnson said.
