Six veterans living at a West Haven retirement center learned Monday that they can stay after the Veterans Administration discovered it had payed for their placement in error and considered moving them to a different facility.
"I've never had it so good," said Vinnie Lynch, a Vietnam-era veteran who lives at Seacrest Retirement Center. "I had PTSD and bipolar disorder, problems adjusting in regular society. Since I've been here I've been doing very well.
He and other veterans at Seacrest posed for pictures with Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who persuaded the VA not to make the veterans move. The VA issued first one extension of their contracts at Seacrest and have now issued a second.
"We said we would do whatever we have to do to keep the residents at Seacrest," said the facility owner, Lewis Bower. "We were letting them stay either way, with or without the contract. The contract gives them a lot of additional benefits and their families benefits and, I think, recognition for the service they gave to our country."
DeLauro said the VA knows it has to come up with a permanent solution because veterans in other states face similar issues.
