Veterans in California rally against cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs
CORONADO, Calif. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Veterans rallied across the nation on Friday against proposed cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The reductions are part of the broader spending changes happening on the federal level.
A rally took place in Coronado, where service members say the VA is not the place to compromise.
"My dad had served in the military my grandfather had served in the military, so I thought it was a good way to try something new," said Al Kovach, a Navy Veteran.
Joining the Navy wasn't something Kovach necessarily grew up wanting to do, but he's glad he did.
"I loved the people that I worked with. We never talked about religion, we never talked about politics, [but] we were always focused on the mission," Kovach shared.
He joined the Navy in 1987, got on the track to become one of the force's most elite members on Seal Team 5.
That's when he came to Coronado for the first time for basic underwater demolition/SEAL (BUDs) training.
"There's an old saying in the Seal Team. 'Embrace the suck,' and I was...embracing a lot," Kovach spoke.
He found his purpose. His mission until a routine training in 1991.
"On May 21st, 1991, my platoon at Team 5 was getting ready to deploy to the Philippines and we needed to get more jumps in out of a C-130 and when I jumped out, I collided with another jumper, and by the time we were able to get untangled, it was too late for my backup parachute to function properly," Kovach remembered.
What he thought he'd do for a lifetime was cut short in an instant.
"I was 26-years-old when I got hurt," Kovach said.
He soon found himself in the midst of six months of intense therapy at the VA.
"And it was really that time at the VA hospital with my fellow paralyzed veterans that I realize, you know, there is life after paralysis and that maybe I can kind of reinvent myself," Kovach declared.
It's why Kovach felt compelled to join the rally in Coronado as Veterans are opposed to proposed cuts at the VA.
It's the largest health care system in the nation, with nearly half a million employees and 170 hospitals, including the one in Coronado that Kovach depends on.
"The VA is such a large system and it's a huge part of the annual budget for the United States...it seems to be an easy target," Kovach remarked.
Overall, 80,000 people may lose their jobs. According to a memo from the cabinet-level department's chief of staff, already more than 2,000 people have been cut since February.
"I feel like we've sacrifice enough and maybe it's someone else's turn," Kovach expressed.
