Hospice of Michigan - WKTV Journal

Ryan Gadberry (pictured) is no longer on active duty, yet continues to serve (Courtesy, Hospice of Michigan)

By Deborah Reed

WKTV Managing Editor

Gadberry works to ensure veterans are recognized for their service (Courtesy, Hospice of Michigan)

Wyoming resident Ryan Gadberry served four years (2013-2017) in the U.S. Marines. While no longer on active-duty, the local veteran continues serving by bringing comfort and recognition to hospice veterans during their end-of-life journey.

Already serving as Property Manager for Hospice of Michigan, Gadberry stepped in to help when he heard Hospice of Michigan needed veteran volunteers.

For the past eight months, Gadberry has used his military experiences to make a meaningful impact.

“I am more than happy to give back,” said Gadberry. “It’s very heartwarming; it makes you feel like you’re doing something really important.”

Camaraderie and compassion

Hospice of Michigan strives to deliver the holistic, loving care veterans deserve. Veteran volunteers make a difference in the lives of others by sitting and visiting with fellow veteran patients.

Gadberry said there is a specific connection between veterans due to shared military training and history.

Wyoming veterans gather at an annual local breakfast (Courtesy, City of Wyoming)

“You can meet a total stranger and, once you find out they are a fellow service person, there is an immediate connection,” said Gadberry. “You’re no longer a stranger.”

That connection has been frequently proven, but one instance made a lasting impact on Hospice of Michigan Volunteer Program Manager, Lauren Becker-Barkman.

A lifelong Marine within hours of the end of his life journey was restless, repeatedly reaching and calling out.

“There was no peace in this man’s world at this time,” said Becker-Barkman. “He’s uncomfortable, he’s restless.”

Veterans can make a difference in each other’s lives (Courtesy photo)

The hospice team asked a veteran volunteer to sit with the veteran in hopes of making a difference in his end-of-life journey.

“By the time [the volunteer] left,” said Becker-Barkman, “he was comfortable, he was at peace. He wasn’t calling out, he wasn’t reaching out.”

The veteran passed within a few hours – and what was said during that time together remains unknown.

“We don’t know what was said or what passed between these two veterans, but whatever it was allowed this man to find peace and to be able to go on peacefully,” said Becker-Barkman. “That’s the kind of connection you can’t make up. The impact is immeasurable.”

Gadberry personally cultivates that special connection with hospice veterans through empathy and understanding.

A desire to serve

Gadberry is thankful for his time in the Marines (Courtesy, Hospice of Michigan)

A first-generation serviceman in his family, Gadberry always knew he wanted to be a Marine.

“Even when I was a kid, that was the plan. Finish high school, join the Marines. That’s what I did.”

Gadberry served as an intelligence analyst, working with several overseas ops – and has no regrets.

“I love that I did it; it definitely turned me into the man I am today.”

And that man gets a visible bounce in his step when meeting fellow veterans.

An unexpected impact

“He gets a little pep in his step knowing that he’s going to meet a veteran,” said Becker-Barkman, adding that Gadberry is also asked to read poems or talk about the impact of veteran connections often. “He’s incredibly humble about being a veteran himself…so to know that he’s also getting some recognition and that he’s continuing to make an impact, it’s really cool.”

A local woman raises her voice in song at a vet pinning ceremony (Courtesy, Hospice of Michigan)

Gadberry said that volunteering has impacted him in ways he didn’t expect – especially the pinning ceremonies.

“What surprised me was the impact it has on the families,” said Gadberry. “It’s overwhelming to see. It’s important to make that veteran feel remembered and seen, but they’re on their end-of-life journey, they’re going to be gone soon. But that ceremony, and those memories, are going to be passed on and kept with the family members for many years to come.”

Though many veterans are recognized for their service through their communities, American Legion or VFW, there are just as many who never see recognition of any kind. Gadberry said giving that recognition to veterans during the last steps of their end-of-life journey is memorable for all involved.

“Every ceremony, every event is completely different,” said Gadberry. “Every time I do it, I take away something different and I learn a little bit more.”

Becker-Barkman said her time with Hospice of Michigan has also been life-changing.

“I’ve learned so much about end-of-life care and what that entails for us as human beings,” said Becker-Barkman. “I get to be surrounded by so many brilliant, loving, giving people that it’s changed my entire outlook on everything.

“It’s magical to be surrounded by people who are so willing to show up for people they don’t know at what can be the hardest time in their life; it’s rejuvenating.”

The value of serving in new ways

Hospice of Michigan is continually in need of compassionate veteran volunteers to provide that much needed support and camaraderie to hospice veterans. Regardless of how they served, the bond between veterans opens a door of trust and communication through mutual understanding.

“Veterans share a unique bond,” said Kathy Lietaert, Hospice of Michigan Statewide Volunteer Program Manager, in supplied material. “Through our veterans hospice program, every act of service by volunteer veterans brings comfort, connection and compassion to hospice veterans who need it most at the end of life.”

Volunteers can make a life-changing impact with a minimal time commitment (Courtesy photo)

Becker-Barkman said they are always looking for more volunteer support, in Grand Rapids and throughout the state – and their volunteering schedule is flexible.

“You could [visit] one patient a month, visit once a week, or whatever fits your schedule,” said Becker-Barkman. “We don’t have any rigid guidelines. We want volunteers to be able to fit this into their lives in a way that’s meaningful and not overwhelming for them.”

Volunteer orientations are hosted on an as-needed basis so prospective volunteers can learn in their own time. Training or previous volunteer experience is not needed. All veterans willing to donate their time and companionship to hospice care patients are welcome.

Gadberry believes that veterans will step in to help once they are aware of the need.

“I was more than happy to help out,” said Gadberry. “I think that will be the case for other veterans out there. If they hear that another veteran needs some form of help, they will always step up.”

Learn more!

Prospective volunteers can contact Lauren Becker-Barkman at 616-250-9110 or lbecker-barkman@hom.org.

Learn more about Hospice of Michigan and submit an online volunteer application here.

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Russell Spearow salutes World War II veteran Aldean Mason. (WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

The rain ended and the clouds parted just in time for a special pinning ceremony to honor 98-year-old World War II veteran Aldean Mason on Friday.

Hospice of Michigan and Azpira Place of Breton, located in Kentwood, teamed up together to recognize Mason, who service as a nurse in the United States Army during World War II.

Aldean Mason comes out to a warm welcome for a Hospice of Michigan We Honor Veterans program. (WKTV)

“Aldean is a loving, kind, wonderful person,” said Azpira Place of Breton Executive Director Jenny Osentoski. “To know that she gave hands on care to survivors of the Holocaust and then went on to lived a lovely life even after all that is amazing.”

About a dozen residents and staff along with the media attended a short ceremony outside the main doors of Azpira Place of Breton where representatives from Hospice of Michigan gave Mason a pin featuring the American flag and a flag for hospice and a certificate. Family members not able to attend joined via Zoom.

Mason was born on Oct. 24, 1921 in the state of Washington. She was one of seven children and assumed the role of mother when her mother passed away. Upon completion of nursing school, Mason joined the 120th Evacuation Hospital Unit as part of General George Patton’s 3rd Army. She arrived in France in 1944 and began treating wounded U.S. soldiers.

Aldean Mason served in 120th Evacuation Hospital Unit as part of General George Patton’s 3rd Army. (Supplied)

The following year, Mason’s unit was sent to an area near Buchenwald Concentration Camp, located on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany. It was one of Germany’s first and largest concentration camps in the country’s 1937 borders. Lack of food and poor conditions along with executions lead to 56,545 deaths of the 280,000 prisoners housed at Buchenwald and its subcamps. The camp was liberated by the U.S. 89th Infantry Division.

In Mason’s story, read by staff, her unit thought they were heading to Germany to continue to treat more American soldiers. Instead, they would witness the horrors of a conception camp as they helped those who suffered from severe malnutrition, typhus and other diseases. As the famous American journalist Edward R. Murrow wrote in an April 15, 1945 report about Buchenwald, “We walked out into the courtyard, a man fell dead. Two others, they must have been over 60, were crawling toward the latrine. I saw it, but will not describe it.”

According to staff, Mason recalled how distraught she and the other nurses were to discover the realities of concentration camps. One survivor, Jack Pinto, credited Mason for giving him the desire to live. “I did not want to live,” Pinto said in an Los Angeles Times story about the two reuniting in 1995. “She sat on my bed, many times, talking.”

Mason would marry a doctor from the unit, Walter, who she did not meet until after the war, and the two would raise a family. The two were married for 57 years when Walter passed away in 2006. Mason has lived at Azpira Place of Breton for the past nine years.

Aldean Mason (in the red circle) and her unit went to Buchenwald Concentration Camp to help Holocaust survivors. (Supplied)

Mike Nitz, director of Community Relations for the Azpira Place of Breton, said the senior living facility has about eight World War II and Korean veterans as well Vietnam veterans. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are about 300,000 U.S. World War II veterans alive with the U.S. losing about 348 veterans per day.

“I try to come to as many of these as possible,” said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Russell Spearow who presented Mason with a coin from his battalion, the 3rd Battalion of the 333rd Infantry. The battalion has a long history with its members also serving in World War II. “I think it is so important to be able to witness living history.”

The event was part of the Hospice of Michigan’s We Honor Veterans, which honors men and women who served the United States and help educate and provide care for the specific needs of veterans. It is estimated that one in four Americans dying is a veteran.

“Coming off of Memorial Day, we felt it is so important to recognize our veterans,” Nitz said, adding that it is especially true as quarantine orders have prevented loved ones from being able to have face-to-face visits.

“It has been so hard for the residents and their families not to be able to come in contact,” Osentoski said. “We see the residents everyday and are part of their daily lives. During our parade [last weekend] where families decorated their cars and past by, we could actually see the tears in residents’ eyes and their families’.”

Osentoski said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, Azpira Place of Breton has been fortunate in being able to provide community activities such as the special pinning for Mason, helping to keep their residents engaged and connected.