O H H H


Veterans with Memory Loss: Bringing Them Home for


a Moment Ladies Auxiliary VFW Joins Forces with Picture Book Author


peration: NEVER FORGET was introduced at National Convention in August. The Ladies Auxiliary VFW


is joining forces with Dan Koffman, author of Life in the US Military, a book for veterans with memory loss designed to spark connections with family and friends. There are an estimated 600,000 veterans with memory loss, and the mission is to get these books into the hands of those families who are on the frontlines of caregiving. “My father was a soldier, a proud veteran of World War II, who later in life suffered from dementia,” Koffman said. “My mother was his primary caregiver. My family was witness to the slow and cruel fading away of a great guy. The 10 years of 24/7 care- giving, it’s fair to say, was what took my mother a few short months after my father. I vowed then that I would do something, something meaningful for other families traveling this oft- times brutal road. At that time, nearly 20 years ago, I had no idea exactly what that something would be.” Koffman remembers many of his father’s stories from his military service. “Those stories and experiences defined our parents, siblings, spouses, relatives and friends. Tales of ordinary people forged in extraordinary times who survived those times.” “I’m an artist,” Koffman explains. “Communication is what I do. While pondering the phrase ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ one day, an idea struck me and I decided to create


18 LADIES AUXILIARY VFW MAGAZINE


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