“That one’s on us,” said Gov. Charlie Baker during a June 24 press conference in pointing the blame for the deadly outbreak of COVID-19 at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke.
His words ring hollow for family members of the 76 veterans who died from COVID-19 and of the Home’s residents who have survived the outbreak.
They want to hear from him in person and in Holyoke, not from a podium or from a video conference or call from Boston.
When asked by a reporter if he had met yet with family members, Baker admitted he needed to do that. He said he wants to apologize to the families, either virtually or in person.
“Yeah, I would like to do that,” he said.
That was June 24. Families, I am told this week, are now getting calls from the governor and he’s expressing his condolences. That the governor has not met yet with family members, however, is still inexplicable to several family members who ask why he still has not visited.
As a retired military officer, I cannot find adjectives strong enough to describe my emotions but the words that come immediately to mind are inexcusable, disrespectful, unforgivable and unimaginable.
Although the veterans who died were not, at the time of their deaths, serving in the military or in state government, they were under the care of the state on his watch and they suffered greatly due to the failures of his administration. This is not under dispute. And neither is the loss felt by their family members.
Then why hasn’t he still not met with them? With social distancing and with safeguards in place, there is no reason why he couldn’t meet with them in person.
The importance of extending condolences, consoling family members, offering support and meeting with the next of kin of those who have suffered is not something any leader should “like” to do.
It is a responsibility.
In the United States military, this responsibility is so sacred, so profound, so to the very core of what it means to serve, that there are regulations that require, at a minimum, that a uniformed services representative render official condolences and provide every effort to console the next of kin. A chaplain is nearly always available to accompany the officer with this most humbling of duties.
The military, recognizing that this must be done with the utmost sensitivity, provides training in how to do it. There is guidance and examples of how to offer condolences, complete with sample words to express and what to include in a letter.
Again, these are absolute and minimum requirements. The veterans at the Soldiers’ Home and their family members know this as members of the extended military family.
But it has also been my experience that the commander, who is the leader of the unit in which a military member has died, will make every attempt to meet with family members, and he or she will write a personal letter and will personally ensure that the family member of the deceased receives every level of support.
Here is what Army Regulation 600-8-1 says: “Commanders of deceased Soldiers will — (1) When practical, contact the family of the deceased Soldier by telephone (or other electronic means) within 1 week of the death to offer their condolences and to relate to the family the full circumstances concerning the incident that resulted in the Soldier’s death, consistent with AR 600–34, para 1–18b. (2) When an investigation is still pending, inform the family of such and contact the family again as soon as the investigation is complete.(3) When relating the circumstances to the family, be mindful of operational security. This should not greatly affect the information that the family needs to hear.”
There is no operational security matter that I am aware of concerning the loss of 76 veterans at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke.
One of the things the governor said he plans to do is help the staff of the Soldiers’ Home deal with what they encountered.
“We’ll also be outlining several measures to address the trauma the staff have experienced in their working condition,” he said. “There’s a very dedicated group of nurses and other professionals at that facility, which was clearly represented by the report, who haven’t had the support that they deserve to do their jobs.”
That is absolutely and emphatically true. Family members I have spoken with agree and want the absolute best for the caregivers for their loved ones. They are members of a coalition that I have joined, which is petitioning the state for significant improvements in staffing, governance and capital infrastructure. They are especially upset that the Baker administration is building a new $199 million long-term care facility at the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home. Where is the plan for such a design for Holyoke?
The veterans who died of COVID-19 are casualties of our state’s failed effort to contain an outbreak. The governor himself admitted to that on June 24.
In his press conference, Baker noted that there were things the state could have done to help stop the spread — things like more testing and closing common spaces. The investigation he directed also noted the combining of two locked dementia care units, allowing staff to rotate among units and inconsistencies and poor judgment in the use of personal protective equipment.
“Veterans who deserve the best from state government got exactly the opposite,” Baker said. “And there’s no excuse or plausible explanation for that.”
I agree.
Now their family members deserve to be heard and to receive a dignified and in-person response from their governor on what he plans to do to create a vastly improved Soldiers’ Home so that this tragedy never happens again. It’s now his job to listen and accept responsibility. This one’s on him.
John Paradis, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, lives in Florence and writes a monthly column for the Gazette. He can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.