Margaret Kruckemeyer, MSN, FNP-C, MA
Nurse Emeritus
Dayton VAMC

On June 16, 2020, Margaret Kruckemeyer, NOVA Past President, NOVA Nurse Emeritus, and American Veterans Heritage Center (AVHC) President Emeritus, had a busy day. She served as hostess, AVHC utility trailer driver and back-up first aid provider to the Patriotic convoy of volunteers who escorted the original 15-foot crafted statue of Abraham Lincoln. The statue was trailered from Mike Majors Studio in Urbana, Ohio to Dayton, Ohio. 

The unique statue depicts Lincoln sitting in his favorite chair holding a bill to establish the National Home of Disabled Volunteer Soldiers providing health care to the wounded warriors of the Civil War. This was the beginning of our VA Health System. Lincoln also signed a second bill into law on the same day on March 3, 1865 known as the GI bill. The motto for the Department of VA originated from his 2nd inaugural address on March 4, 1865: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan”.

The Abraham Lincoln statue will be given its final home placement on the historic healing campus of the Dayton VA Medical Center around Veterans Day 2020. This volunteer project includes landscaping, statue creation and building of the lighted brick wrap around the statue base. Fundraising efforts for the statue have begun. Thank you to NOVA for making a donation (Friends of Lincoln Donor Level) to help honor Lincoln’s Promise to those who served our country!

http://americanveteransheritage.org/honoring-lincolns-promise