I wonder what people think when they hear about health care offered by Veterans Administration hospitals? There have been so many negative stories about the Veterans Administration and its hospitals, I just have to tell about my recent, life-changing experience at Togus.

I was a combat soldier in Vietnam in 1968. Forty-six years later, in 2014, I could hardly walk — both hips were almost useless.

The doctors at the VA facility at Togus replaced both hips totally, and two weeks ago I climbed ice-covered Old Speck Mountain with my friends — without slowing them down at all.

Jim Sysko, Newry