NO VETERAN DIES ALONE
PROGRAM SHOWS
ULTIMATE CARE AT TIME
OF PASSING
As part of the recently launched No Veteran
Dies Alone (NVDA) Program, volunteers
give “the most precious gift,” according to
VA Pittsburgh Chaplain Alan Morris –their
presence to veterans who may not have anyone
to be with them in their final hour.
Volunteers can speak, read or hold the hand
of a veteran and be a comfort to them. They
are on call when needed and often stay longer
than required – because they want to.
Susan Rogers of O’Hara and George
Coppola of Collier are two volunteers who
graduated from the first class of NVDA
training in August. Since then, they have been
on two vigils each with dying patients.
Coppola, a Vietnam veteran, has extensive
hospice experience with his mother and other
loved ones in his life. He’s also known other
veterans who died alone and wants to prevent
that from happening to anyone else.
Rogers has a 92-year-old World War Two
veteran father who lives i