To aging healthily
At age 79, Jack Nist has taken up a new mission: He’s finding ways to encourage his fellow Veterans to take advantage of the care they have earned at VA. He believes the people at VA make a huge difference in patient care.
“Every person I meet at VA—be it medical staff or janitor—I ask their name, and I share this little speech,” said Nist, a Vietnam Veteran. “You always thank us for our service, so I want to thank you for being here because you could be someplace else. And my feedback for the Minneapolis VA is that VA treats the person, civilian medicine treats the disease—a huge difference in care. You’re in a good place, and I thank you.”
Nist’s service began on April Fool’s Day, 1969. It was the first day of his Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla. Within the first week of training, he got blisters on his feet that morphed into something more serious. He was put on bedrest in a surgical ward for returning Vietnam War Veterans, and he was the only one completely confined to his bed. He said that the wide variety of wounds these young men had suffered educated him about what was happening in the war.
He became a naval aviator—the A-3 Sky Warrior was his plane of choice—and flew aerial refueling and electronic warfare missions for an A-3 detachment that soon deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin.
“My goal became trying not to lose anybody while I was in the air,” he said. Nist completed 75 missions.
He returned home in 1972 to live out a “full life,” filled with family and a creative career as a screenwriter and college professor.
A critical piece of advice
Early on in Nist’s VA care, his primary care provider told him: “’There are four things people should do as they age that they often don’t do: Eat and drink; don’t take in less calories when you’re older, and be sure to drink enough water. Move. Sleep. And whatever you do, make sure that what you do is meaningful to you.’”
That last piece of advice is what Nist has taken to heart throughout his life. As he navigates the limitations of his newly diagnosed Parkinson’s Disease, he is focused on amplifying the great health care he receives at Minneapolis VA and on making all staff who are part of that care know that they are appreciated.
It’s never too late to apply for VA health care you’ve earned. If you are a Veteran or know a Veteran who has not yet applied for their VA health care benefits, learn how to get started.
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hi first thanks for your service! as a fellow vietnam vet air force tsn 1970-1971. boot camp at lackland apr 02 1969.
retired postal worker 33 years and 10 years with rhe nyc dept of education as a paraprofessional.god bless!
Someone Please contact me , this has to change emediately. How can I get involved so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else. Or happen to me again in my senior year of 67? I even called va Social services for pee pads and diapers because signature Healthcare didn’t have the right stuff for me and I was left in my own pee for days. Where was my patient advocate? Sitting behind a desk at the va and telling me I should have known the rules? Who will pay my bill? Who will advocate for me? This has to change.
I did leave a comment. But was it erased? Why didn’t VA send me a patient advocate after my motorcycle accident? How are we to advocate for ourselves when we are incapacitated? And make sure to know what to do? I told the hospital to send me to the va . How was i supposed to know that I was to ask to be sent and get authorization for the second location signature health care that will not have anything to do with the va? Yet they have a NPI#? THat is active? And now va won’t pay my bill of $203 from there? Who can fix this for me? Who can help? Patient advocate should have advocated for me once I was there. We don’t know all the rules. They do. No one had my back . My sons ask i asked to be sent to the va. Va in durham didn’t come to make sure to advocate for me.
I have been with the va for 15 years, I got into a motorcycle accident and air lifted to Duke hospital, i requested to go to the VA.. Duke contacted the VA , but no one contacted me no one at the VA was my patient advocate in durham NC. Duke sent me to a shady place called signature health care in chapel hill NC. It was awful there, they didn’t even have pee pads and the night workers spoke broken english. Food was awful and unhealthy for a diabetes. And much more. They have even been kicked off medicare. The have a NIP? Number but will have nothing to do with the VA. The nurse even bumped me so id fall so they could keep me there longer. I had a concussion, broke my right wrist w a metal plate , broken clavical, foot, 6 ribs , 4 vertebrae, colapsed lung … yet no patient advocate came to see about me. This place sent me a bill too . They drove me to my appointments w a young girl who drove dangerously close to other cars while talking on the phone and I told them but she still got me to drive w her and would go over bumps harshly to where I would scream in pain. I want to change that. What can I do something this doesn’t happen to anyone else? I went to patient advocate, I called the va i did everything I possibly could but no one will take accountability. Patient advocate said I should have done better, because I should have made them take me to the VA and gotten authorization for the assisted living/ therapy . Once I got authorization from Duke, they say I should have again gotten authorization for the signature health care from hell too. How was i supposed to know that? I was unresponsive for most of the time, and fighting to live. I am 67 female veteran w 100% disability. Can someone tell me how we can change this. Patient advocate says they cant force signature to pay my bill… Their hands are tied and I am concerned that this can and could happen again at my age. And they said I should see my congressman. This happened in aug 2025 and its jan 2026 and I am still recovering. I even contacted va Social services and told them to send me pee pads and diapers. Leave no man behind. Patient advocate also but no one came to advocate for me…