A rally in San Luis Obispo on Monday aimed at drawing attention to concerns about cuts to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the local and national impacts on veterans' healthcare, housing, and benefits.
"War is hell. People get killed," said Bill Harland, and World War II Navy veteran.
A reality few of us know, but something veterans like Harland are all too familiar with.
"Our family knows that," he said. "We had five people in the service. Only four of them got back home."
Harland, along with other veterans, supporters, and members of the progressive group Indivisible SLO, spent the morning at the San Luis Obispo Veterans Memorial Building protesting proposed cuts by DOGE,
including 80,000 layoffs across the VA, as well as budget and hiring freezes.
"I think you have all kinds of trickle-down impacts of that," said Greg Haas, District Senior Representative for Rep. Salud Carbajal. "Everything from our local clinics here — you know, our San Luis Obispo clinic, Santa Maria clinic and soon, hopefully, to open Paso Robles clinic — will be impacted because you're going to have fewer health care staff. They're already shorthanded."
Carolyn Biedinger, whose husband served in Vietnam, was among the protestors. Her brother was killed in the same war.
"I do believe that those cuts are terribly unfair," she said. "When we send our men to fight and to protect us and then when they come home, so many times they're not supported, and they need medical care. They may need, actually, mental health care."
However, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins has said that the cuts would not hurt VA healthcare, benefits or beneficiaries and would instead increase productivity and eliminate waste.
In a statement to KSBY News, Randall Jordan, Chairman of the Republican Party of San Luis Obispo County, said, "The smoke and mirrors rally for Veterans is just another well funded Progressive attempt to dissuade the great work the DOGE team is doing and has done. Our Country is 36 Trillion dollars in debt and the Democrat party answer is to 'Cut nothing' and Tax the rich. The middle class is all but gone due to this thinking."
He added, "I and my fellow conservatives feel the cuts are warranted and just wish more waste was targeted and eliminated in the local, state and federal government."
Monday's rally coincided with an open house at the Veterans Memorial Building to inform veterans of available services.
