Veteran’s Last Patrol

Headquartered in Spartanburg, SC, Veteran’s Last Patrol, a non-profit supporting veterans in hospice care, was founded just a few years ago by Claude Schmid, a retired Army Colonel, and is now a national organization with active volunteers in 27 states. VLP offers honor ceremonies and emergency assistance, plus promotes new friendships by encouraging visits between veteran volunteers and veterans in hospice care because, as we all know, there is an unbreakable bond and brotherhood between all service members, past and present, with jargon used and stories told that would never be shared with family or civilian friends. 

Although I am not a veteran myself, I was raised in a military family and have an intense love of military history. In 2019 when I was asked by our founder to begin volunteering, I was unsure of the emotional toll and questioned my strength in such an atmosphere.  Since then, I have visited with many patients, but it was my first patient who stole my heart. He had severe dementia and was unable to see, walk or speak. I warily went to visit and was uncomfortably rambling on and on, unsure if he even understood what I was saying. Recalling from the bio that his father had been a minister, we began playing a few hymns on an iPhone and immediately saw the light turn on in his eyes as he began singing every single word…

Holy, holy, holy!

Lord God Almighty,

Early in the morning,

Our song shall rise to Thee!


Holy, holy, holy!


Merciful and mighty,


God in three persons,


Blessed Trinity!  

He then went on belting out the second and third verse, words I didn’t even know. I was crying and, yet, smiling.  Beaming, in fact! My heart was so full of love and compassion and I knew then that, if I was born for a specific purpose, that moment very well could have been it.  After more visits, this patient began saying, “Bye” and then, “Good-bye” as I would leave and then, finally, “See ya’ later!” While visiting him a few days before Christmas, 2019, somehow he or God must have known that would be our last farewell because, as I was saying good-bye, he unexpectedly grabbed my hand to kiss it and then stood up from his wheelchair to hug me.  Soon after, the facility, along with so many others worldwide, went into lockdown amidst the COVID pandemic and I was unable to visit him again before his death.   

Although heartbreaking at times, I know the impact that I and other VLP volunteers have made, and continue to make every single day, with our veterans ravaged by war and time. We offer honor ceremonies and emergency assistance, plus we organize parades past facilities and private homes, flyovers, car show fundraisers, and, through our annual Operation Holiday Salute, our volunteers distributed over 60,000 cards and gifts to veterans in hospice care last year.  Nothing, though, beats the one on one connection that, unfortunately, so many of our aging veterans crave and need, especially now. America’s Surgeon General recently announced that our country suffers from a “national epidemic of loneliness” and the heartache and seclusion in care facilities is a particularly difficult problem. We seek to do something about that for America’s veterans.

If interested in getting involved, go to www.veteranlastpatrol.org to complete a quick questionnaire for potential new volunteers and reference this article. Someone with VLP will then contact you with more information and schedule training at a hospice organization in your area.   We would love to have you and I know your efforts would be truly appreciated by many. If unable to volunteer, please consider a donation on our website.  

Thank you for any and all support!

Julie Counihan
Veteran’s Last Patrol
Outreach Coordinator

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