by Donald Eng CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT – Nine years after her son died at age 28 while awaiting treatment from the Veterans Administration, Stephanie Keegan continues to fight for the sons and daughters of other military moms.
Daniel Keegan was an 8-year US Army veteran, serving with the 82nd Airborne Division and twice deploying to Kandahar, Afghanistan. While there he built a library so his fellow soldiers could distract themselves from the strain of deployment, Keegan said.
Stephanie Keegan speaks about her son Daniel at a rally Friday at the Connecticut Veterans Memorial at Minuteman Park in Hartford. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
“Daniel came back with PTSD,” Keegan said Friday at the Connecticut State Veterans Memorial at Minuteman Park in Hartford. “He tried to cover it up. He did the best he could until he finally broke. Then, in an effort to medicate himself, he became an addict.”
After a 16-month wait for care, two weeks before he was scheduled to enter a treatment program, Daniel Keegan died on Jan. 8, 2016 from an infection as a result of his heroin use.
“He held on for as long as he could,” Stephanie Keegan said.
Keegan and dozens of others gathered at the memorial to protest the planned cut of 83,000 jobs from the VA. The cuts, according to an internal memo obtained by the Associated Press, represent about 17% of the total VA staff.
“There weren’t enough people to keep him alive when they had those 83,000 workers,” Keegan said. “We deserve better. The people who served deserve so much better.”
Vincent Ferri, with the group Sons of Liberty-CT, had a similar story of struggling to seek treatment from the VA. He said he had been a victim of Agent Orange, a defoliant used in the VIetnam War that was later found to cause cancer and other life-threatening conditions.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz talks with Vincent Ferri, one of the speakers at the Connecticut Veterans Memorial at Minuteman Park in Hartford. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
“I didn’t want to go to Vietnam, but I went anyway,” Ferri said. “In the end, I’m very proud of my service and I believe it made me a better person.”
But Ferri said his service came with a price, which was two bouts with prostate cancer. The first time, in 2010, he said he avoided the VA system because of concerns that applying for VA benefits would be an endless quagmire. The second time, a decade later, was after the PACT Act had expanded benefits for veterans like himself.
“I want other veterans to get the same services I was able to,” he said. “But I see a very hard time for veterans in the future.”
Dozens of veterans and supporters gathered at the Connecticut Veterans Memorial at Minuteman Park in Hartford Friday to protest thousands of potential job cuts in the Veterans Administration program. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, a Marine veteran with sons who served in the Marine Corps and the US Navy, said he has seen how hard it is for veterans coming off active duty to receive care. He said the 83,000 jobs represented everyone from doctors and nurses down to maintenance staff and people who schedule appointments.
“You can’t just walk in and start working (to provide treatment),” Blumenthal said. “You need to have a team.”
Blumenthal said cutting thousands of VA workers was making a mockery of veterans’ service, and said he had introduced legislation to protect veterans, military spouses and VA employees from DOGE cuts.
Blumenthal said the Putting Veterans First Act would reinstate veterans who were indiscriminately fired and require that future terminations be for cause, with the right to appeal. Among other things, the sweeping proposal would also provide mental health care for civil servants and require the VA to publish wait times for private sector care on its website.
Fellow Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy agreed with protections for civil servants. He said attacking civil service jobs was an attack on veterans, who hold federal government jobs at a rate five times higher (30%) than in the private sector.
Senator Chris Murphy speaks at a veterans rally against proposed job cuts at the Veterans Administration May 2, 2025 in Hartford. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie
“You know why? It’s because veterans want to keep serving,” Murphy said. “It’s not by accident. So when you target federal employees, and state that people who work for the government are less worthy than those who work for a big bank, you’re attacking veterans.”
Some other actions, such as attacking dissenting speech and educational institutions, and seeing diversity as a weakness rather than a strength, also represent an attack on veterans, Murphy said.
“They fought, not for the government of the United States, but for the idea of the United States,” he said.