by Wayne Grey. This story was originally published by The Washington Post on November 11, 2024.

The organization, which was started by the daughter of a career marine, launched a Battle Buddy Call Center last year to serve veterans nationwide.

Pinned to the wall of an office in Warrenton, Virginia, is a banner with the words “No Red Tape.” It serves as a reminder and a promise.

Hero’s Bridge was created to remove obstacles, and founder Molly Brooks said that’s what the organization’s staff tries to do whenever an elderly veteran walks in the door or calls in need of help.

Sometimes those veterans come in search of housing assistance. Sometimes they need someone to take them to appointments. Sometimes they just need to talk to someone who gets it — someone who has also served in the military.

Elderly veterans can face physical and mental health challenges that come not only with age but also from their time in the military, such as PTSD and depression. Programs across the country — including one Brooks expanded last year — have been trying to support those veterans by replicating a system that will feel familiar to them. It is ingrained in the minds of U.S. service members that someone will always be by your side, to be relied upon, to watch your back, to carry the weight when you no longer can — a “battle buddy” — and that’s the title Brooks’s organization gives the younger veterans it pairs with older ones.

“In the military you have that one person that knows you, can sense changes in how you’re doing, that can come to your rescue when things aren’t going right,” said Brooks, the daughter of a career Marine. She explained her dream is for the group’s Battle Buddy Program to foster those types of connections for older veterans. “That you have one person that’s looking out for you, one person that you can go to when you need something.”

The organization has seven employees and more than 300 volunteers, many who participate in the Battle Buddy Program. Last year, the organization also launched a Battle Buddy Call Center to meet the needs of senior veterans across the nation. So far, through the call center, they have helped more than 400 veterans nationwide, and they regularly check in on 78 who have the highest level of need.

What elderly veterans need depends on the individual, Brooks noted: “It’s up to the battle buddy to learn that veteran and meet those needs as best as we can.”

‘They’re your tribe’

Jon Esse, a retired Navy veteran, is one of the organization’s volunteer battle buddies. A towering man with a thin build, energetic handshake and broad smile, he welcomes strangers like lifelong friends. 

It is not lost on Esse, who is 66, that he could qualify for the organization’s services. But he said he has the energy of a man decades younger. 

On a humid afternoon in July, Esse was at his “buddy” John Victor’s house to install the last in a chain of wooden ramps bridging thresholds from the laundry room to the living room. This would make it easier for Victor, a 92-year old Army veteran, to move about the house with his walker. 

Victor’s home was large, well-kept and filled with natural light as well as the remnants of a life shared with his wife, Sylvia, who died in 2016. With his wife’s death and the worsening of his physical condition, Victor came to rely on others more. A former soldier with the Army Security Agency who then had a career in insurance sales, Victor had volunteered in his community, providing shuttle services and meal delivery to those in need. But three years ago, he began relying on a shuttle to take him into town for grocery shopping and other errands. 

Esse started volunteering as Victor’s battle buddy two years ago. One thing that motivated him was remembering how poorly veterans were treated when returning home from the Vietnam War. When he recalls it, he can barely hide his tears. He also feels that serving veterans is a continuation of his military service. 

For Victor, Esse did household repairs, yard work and even tried his hand at plumbing. (“Every time I do the plumbing, it leaks,” he joked.) Esse compared his Hero’s Bridge work to time spent with family. “They’re your people, they’re your tribe,” he said. 

Victor said he grew close to Esse and his wife. Victor even attended Esse’s birthday lunch in the summer. “I feel good about it,” Victor said. “They’ve adopted me, which might even be a little bit closer than a friend.”

‘Those are our battle scars’ 

There are many battle-buddy-type programs across the country, offering companionship, emotional support, at-home care or just a helping hand to veterans. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has its own program, the Compassionate Contact Corps, which connects veterans with volunteers who engage with them in weekly phone conversations.

Hero’s Bridge focuses on veterans in Northern Virginia. A registered nurse who specialized in gerontology, Brooks launched the organization in 2016 as a fundraising vehicle after noticing that many aging veterans in her community were experiencing poor health and less than ideal living conditions. 

Along with its Battle Buddy program, the organization offers Paw Patrol, which pairs aging pets with aging veterans and brings pets to veterans’ homes or nursing facilities; Honor Guard, which helps vets recover lost medals, locate records and record oral histories; and Home Front, which provides home maintenance and accessibility modifications. 

Randy Peck, a 69-year-old Army veteran, turned to Hero’s Bridge for help after a fire broke out in the kitchen of his apartment. His battle buddy became Sean Hagerty, who retired from the Coast Guard after 24 years and was hired by Hero’s Bridge last year. 

Hagerty became Peck’s advocate, connecting him with services and keeping track of his medications, appointments and medical history. In the no-red-tape spirit, Hagerty often visited Peck unannounced, as a friend would. 

After Peck fell on hard times, facing eviction following the fire, the organization connected him with legal services, and covered the cost, to delay the eviction until new housing could be secured. Hagerty also found temporary housing for Peck at a motel in Culpeper. 

Peck, who was diagnosed with chronic depression more than a decade ago, spent months living a spartan existence in a small room with a TV, refrigerator and a bed. What remained of his personal belongings had been packed into cardboard boxes stacked against one of the walls. 

Peck said the disability payments he receives have left him struggling to make ends meet, even with help from Hagerty, who has since left his role at the organization. 

“Yeah, it’s great Sean got me in here, but $350 dollars a week?” Peck said. “What does that leave me for food and other expenses?’” 

In late July, Peck decided to move in with friends. Even though he has gone into what Hero’s Bridge calls “reserve” status, because he has access to medical care, housing, food and reliable transportation, the organization will continue to check on him every three months and address any issues that arise if his situation changes. 

Esse, meanwhile, is dealing with a loss that often is part of the job. His battle buddy, Victor, died a few months ago. “He had a great life, he’s not the one everyone is crying over, we’re crying over ourselves,” Esse said. 

Esse cherishes the time they spent together on Victor’s back porch as they watched birds come to the feeders — Esse with a bourbon, Victor with a cup of tea. It was an easy friendship, despite the knowledge that their time together was fleeting. 

“You’re going into battle with them and the battle is them living out their life and dying,” Esse said. “Those are our battle scars, you know, losing those guys and gals. Those are our battle scars.”

Wayne Gray is a veteran and a writer with the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He reported this story through a grant from the SCAN Foundation.