Wounded Marine Cpl. Burness Britt offered his visitor a handshake — with his left hand because his right was gloved in a metal-and-plastic contraption helping his rehabilitation.
Eric K. Shinseki, the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, took the hand and said, "Thank you for your service."
"Thank you for your service," Britt said, his speech labored but clear.
The two men had traded stories about their time in artillery units — Britt in Afghanistan, Shinseki in Vietnam — and their mutual appreciation was palpable.
Shinseki came to Richmond Friday to visit the McGuire Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Britt was one of several patients he spoke with in the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center.
This was a day when veterans took center stage nationally. Earlier, President Barack Obama proposed a jobs program for veterans. The announcement came against the backdrop of plans to bring troops home from Afghanistan after the drawdown in Iraq.
After his tour of the center, Shinseki and another former artilleryman, Virginia Rep. Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, D-3rd, were asked about the VA's future as public awareness of war-wounded troops fades in the years ahead.
Shinseki said Americans must remember that even after American forces leave war zones, the VA's responsibilities to those who served last for decades. He offered an example that stretches even longer.
"Today," he said, "we still have two children of Civil War veterans on the Veterans Administration's rolls as beneficiaries."
He said he is confident that Obama will keep the country's obligations to veterans very much at the forefront.
Scott noted that Michelle Obama has made military families and veterans a major focus as first lady.
"My job as a congressman," Scott said, "is to make sure the VA continues to get the funds it needs to get the job done."
Shinseki said the patients he met during his tour — and the gains they have made as a result of the hospital's work — made him proud of the VA.
He said that every day he gets facts and figures about what the VA is doing. "That is data, that is information." But seeing the McGuire patients smile, laugh and talk about their rehabilitation "brings it to life."
Britt was injured by a bomb blast in Afghanistan and has a horseshoe-shaped scar where his skull had to be opened for treatment. His wry humor had Shinseki, Scott and doctors and staff laughing.
Shinseki also took a turn at a backhoe simulator — much like an aircraft simulator. The center has industry partners helping patients who master the electronic version find real-world jobs.
Shinseki got the backhoe moving fitfully and was able to lift a bucket or two of earth on the screen. "If you resign your position," an onlooker offered, "you've got something to fall back on."
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