Director's Message November 1, 2024
VAPIHCS Veterans, VAPIHCS will host a community call event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (HST) on Saturday, November 16, 2024, at the Maui Community Based Outpatient Clinic at 203 Ho’ohana Street, Suite 303, in Kahului.
The event will feature PACT Act enrollment and member services, vaccines and health services, and benefits advisors to answer your questions. Please urge Maui Veterans to come to the event and get their flu shot and COVID-19 booster shot, and to take advantage of the services and programs that will be available for them.
Toa Challenge Veteran Games
VAPIHCS will hold the first annual Toa Challenge Veteran Games on November 4 – 9, 2024. VAPIHCS and the government of American Samoa are partnering to support this event. Veteran games like the Toa Challenge help support awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), highlight VA services which will increase overall fitness, and build camaraderie.
Veteran games are a good way for Veterans to showcase their skills, get out and socialize, and enjoy healthy activities. The games help reduce depression by giving Veterans something to look forward to, and allowing them a safe forum to socialize in. Enrollment is closed, but spectators are welcome. If Veterans are interested in participating next year, they should ask their doctor about them and see if a referral to recreation therapy is appropriate for them.
Koa Challenge Veteran Games
VAPIHCS will hold the Koa Challenge Veteran Games November 11 – 15, 2024. This is the second year of the Koa Challenge, and 125 Veterans will compete in the games, which will include canoe sprints, indoor climbing, powerwalking, adaptive fitness, archery, basketball free throws, horseshoes, wheelchair slalom, pickleball, boccia ball, and bowling.
This annual event - sponsored and coordinated by VAPIHCS - is supported by many community partners and Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs). VAPIHCS is grateful to everyone who made the Koa Challenge Veteran Games 2024 possible. Veterans who want to participate in the 2025 Koa Challenge should talk with their doctor about a referral to recreation therapy.
Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles
Henry Ford once said, “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”
Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger was born in 1948 in Joliet, IL, and dreamed of playing football for the University of Notre Dame. However, every possible obstacle seemed to stand in his way. Diagnosed with dyslexia, Rudy struggled in school, and was labeled “slow” and “uneducable” by his teacher.
Rudy applied to Notre Dame three times and received rejection after rejection. Additionally, his physical athletic ability wasn’t up to par for a spot on the Notre Dame roster.
Undeterred, Rudy enrolled in a junior college, working relentlessly to improve his grades. After three rejections, he was finally accepted to Notre Dame during his junior year. He went on to defy the odds again and made the football team, but it was as a walk-on for the practice squad. Constantly overlooked, Rudy attended game after game, but mostly watched from sidelines for two football seasons.
But then came November 8, 1975, the last home game of his senior year, when Rudy’s perseverance was rewarded. In the final minutes of a blowout win, Rudy got his chance to play. For just 27 seconds, he was on the field, and helped to make a game-ending tackle.
In history, Rudy’s football record would simply read “one tackle, one sack. “ But it wasn’t what he did in those seconds that only mattered; it was the journey it took to get there that truly made him a victor.
As Ford’s quote reminds us, flying against the wind helps planes take off more efficiently and helps propel the plane off the ground. Opposing winds actually help the plane take off, rather than hinder it. On the path to fulfilling our goals, we may also experience the winds of obstacles and difficulties. But rather than give up, like the plane, we can instead decide to spread out our wings, and allow those very obstacles to develop in us courage, persistence, and determination - the very ingredients that will propel us higher and higher.
One Team, One Ohana!
Adam M. Robinson, Jr., MD, MBA, CPE
Director, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
VADM, MC, USN, (RET)
36th Surgeon General, USN
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