Lowe's Workers Fix Vet's Wheelchair (After VA Wouldn't)

A public thank-you by a Vietnam vet to three workers at Lowe's is providing yet more ammo for critics of the VA. As he explains in a letter to the Staten Island Advance, Michael Sulsona lost both his legs to a landmine during the war. He'd been trying to get a new wheelchair from the VA for the last two years without success, and it finally broke down on him during a trip to the hardware store. Three employees came to his assistance, remaining after the store closed to make sure his chair got fixed. "I kept thanking them and all they could say was, 'It was our honor," writes Sulsona.

"They didn't ask any questions, didn't feel the need to fill out any forms or make phone calls," he adds. "Someone needed help and they felt privileged to be given the opportunity." After the story got picked up by BuzzFeed and others, the VA got wind of it, and, voila, delivered a brand-new wheelchair to Sulsona's house. Referring to the VA, Sulsona tells the Advance, "I'd hate to cheapen what these guys did, but isn't that their job? I should have had the chair I was entitled to, but because of red tape, I never got a chair until now." (More Lowe's stories.)