He served in the U.S. military for 20 years, only to get fired from Veteran Affairs by email

Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 5:36 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

After 20 years successful the U.S. military, including tours successful Iraq and Afghanistan, Luke Graziani was arrogant to service his state again by moving for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

But little than a twelvemonth aft helium swore an oath to support the U.S. constitution arsenic a nationalist servant, Graziani received an email connected Feb. 14 informing him that his occupation had been terminated. 

"I gave 20 years of my beingness to my country, and successful that infinitesimal erstwhile I saw that termination from my national job, it truly felt similar I was conscionable alone," Graziani told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.

"I deliberation a batch of radical don't recognize that arsenic a national work employee, similar I was, it's little of a occupation and much of a calling."

Graziani was portion of a archetypal question of 1,000 occupation cuts astatine Veterans Affairs (VA), targeting radical who person worked determination 2 years oregon less. Now, different 82,000 VA workers are expected to suffer their jobs nether a caller question of cuts. 

An interior memo from the department's main of staff, Christopher Syrek, directed VA unit to enactment with tech billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to chopped staffing by 15 per cent to 2019 levels successful bid to  "eliminate waste" and  "increase workforce efficiency."

Democrats and veterans' advocates decried the move. But veterans are divided astir cuts to the section that has agelong been plagued by allegations of mediocre aesculapian attraction and excessively agelong hold times. 

The cuts are portion of a wider civilian work purge by DOGE, which has eliminated an estimated 100,000 national jobs done buyouts and wide layoffs already this year.

Veterans divided 

More than 9 cardinal U.S. veterans get carnal and intelligence wellness attraction from the VA, which manages a $350 cardinal US fund and oversees astir 200 aesculapian centres and hospitals.

Graziani, who was a nationalist affairs serviceman astatine the James J. Peters VA Medical Center successful New York City, says that if these layoffs continue, the veterans who beryllium connected those services volition suffer.

"Patient hold times whitethorn spell up. You know, the clip it takes to get an appointment, the clip it takes to spot your doc for the archetypal time, oregon get registered, all those things are going to beryllium impacted by losing the radical who are down the scenes, making it happen," helium said.

Daniel Ragsdale Combs, a 45-year-old navy seasoned successful Mesa, Ariz., is disquieted astir the future. He receives radical therapy done the VA for intelligence unwellness brought connected by a traumatic encephalon wounded sustained successful the enactment of duty.

"I'm profoundly acrophobic due to the fact that the VA has been thing but large to me," Combs said. "I'm angry, upset and frustrated."

Gregg Bafundo — who served during the archetypal Gulf War and has nervus harm to his feet from carrying loads of value arsenic a Marine mortarman — says he's been harmed doubly implicit by the DOGE cuts. 

He mislaid his occupation arsenic wilderness ranger and firefighter done the layoffs astatine the U.S. Forest Service, and helium volition present person to crook backmost to VA for his health-care needs. 

"They're going to enactment guys similar maine and my chap Marines that trust connected the VA successful the ground," said Bafundo, 53, who lives successful Tonasket, Wash.

But Stephen Watson of Jesup, Ga., — who served successful the Marines for 22 years and receives attraction done the VA for a traumatic encephalon injury — welcomed the cuts.

"We're nary amended due to the fact that we're veterans," Watson, 68, said. "We each request to instrumentality a measurement backmost and recognize that everybody's gonna person to instrumentality a small spot connected the chin to get these fund matters nether control." 

Richard Lamb, 74, of Waco, Texas —  who was changeable down doubly successful Vietnam arsenic an service chopper unit main — said the VA should beryllium "cut to the bone." 

Lamb says that, for decades, VA doctors failed to diagnose compression fractures successful his vertebrae, and helium didn't get the country helium needed until helium saw a backstage physician.

"I'd beryllium blessed to spot VA, not torn down, but cleaned up, cleaned retired and recast," said Lamb, who lives successful Waco, Texas. "The VA is expected to beryllium a fantastic happening for veterans. It's not. It sucks."

The Trump medication is lasting by the move. Anna Kelly, a White House lawman property secretary, said the president volition sphere veterans' benefits, but volition not basal for the "bureaucracy and bloat " astatine the agency.

'Absolutely crushed'

Graziani, meanwhile, says he's not against reforming, oregon adjacent scaling backmost VA. But helium says it's being done successful a careless mode that doesn't instrumentality into relationship who is doing captious work, oregon amusement respect to radical who person served their country. 

"There are ways of doing things that marque consciousness and that are thoughtful and with care, and the mode that I was terminated was not with immoderate of those things successful mind," the begetter of 4 said.

"I was perfectly crushed. I raised my close manus and swore an oath erstwhile I accepted this presumption astatine the national level. I thought that determination was going to beryllium immoderate consciousness of stableness and permanence to it. But it was each gone successful conscionable an email."

With files from Reuters and The Associated Press. Interview with Luke Graziani produced by Chris Trowbridge