Regina, our Director of Public Relations, recently met with some of our Veteran clients to get their stories. We are so grateful for their service and we are grateful that we can now serve them. If you ever need a reason to feel grateful, volunteer to help our senior clients. We can learn so much from them and their life experiences. Plus, they are just a lot of fun!
Meet 99 years-old Walter Sulflow
Walter is the only WWII veteran that is a current client of Senior Access and we are so proud to share his story. Walter was called to serve his country when he was twenty years old. He and his six siblings served in the armed forces. In fact, his whole family served in one way or another. His mother was voted the number one War Mother for having the most family members serve during WWII with seven out of her nine children serving in the war.
Meet Ron Marchese
Ron Marchese was a cook in the service for two years. He was stationed in 1959 in Anchorage, Alaska. “My purpose was to protect the world from the missile crisis with Russia”, says Marchese. “I had to go out in the fields with the infantry”.
Marchese has been living in Texas since 2006 and the reason he moved from California to the Lone Star State was that his favorite granddaughter lives here.
Marchese feels proud about being an American “I would say stay patriotic and support your country because your country comes first”.
Ever since his driving skills started to decline last year, Marchese found help with Senior Access “What I like about Senior Access is that they are really there for you... we all want to become independent but we just can’t”.
Meet Milton Allen
“Being in the military allowed me to view the world in a different light,” says Milton Allen, who was a paratrooper in the United States Army for three years. Allen joined the service initially to provide for his family and learn new skills. “Being the oldest of four boys I needed to make money, get some experience, and take advantage of the benefits to further my education”.
Allen, a native of New Orleans, Louisiana is 85 years old and ended up in Texas as a result of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “My mother and I escaped Katrina and we were rescued from the roof of our house”.
Ever since Allen came to Texas he has received help from people and organizations including Senior Access which he has been a client since 2009. “It’s good to have somebody you can talk to about,” says Allen referring to the work of volunteers. “I have benefited from the evolution of the Senior Access program, I can't say enough but good things”.