Plaques honoring veterans to be placed at Pahrump VA clinic

The Pahrump VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) received a donation of six plaques, each bearing a seal from one of the five branches of the U.S. armed forces and prisoners of war, from the town of Pahrump on Saturday.

“This is an honor for the veterans of Pahrump, and we really appreciate this,” said Dr. Maia Carter, chief of primary care at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System.

Carter was joined by John Koenig, Nye County Commission, District II, and former commissioner Frank Carbone, who is an Air Force veteran, for an acceptance ceremony at the Pahrump clinic at 220 S. Lola Lane on Aug. 11. The group was also joined by Army veteran Bernie Cusimano.

The symbols will be placed above the check-in area at Pahrump’s VA clinic in the coming weeks.

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials said the symbols will be placed in order of Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, which is mandatory.

Efforts to get the seals placed at the VA clinic has been a long process, according to Carbone.

Carbone said the suggestion to put the seals in the location were first suggested by Cusimano, and the entire process has been going on for about two years—which predates the building’s completion of construction in November 2016.

The plaques cost roughly $200 each, or a total of about $1,200, which came from the town of Pahrump’s general fund.

The placement has special meaning to veterans in the local area.

“It means that now they get to see what their symbols are that they fought for and fought with—the Army, the Navy, the Marines, the Air Force,” Carbone said. “It gives you a feeling of being here. This is my place now. We’re all part of the same group.”

“It’s for the veterans, and the veterans are going to take pride in looking what’s over there when they get put up,” Cusimano said.

Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes