A march outside of the Legislative Hall in Dover focuses on Trump administration cuts to veterans’ programs.
The march was a part of a nationwide protest in support of veterans and programs that support them. It largely drew folks from Sussex and Kent Counties. They took turns speaking in front of Legislative Hall before marching around the Green.
The Trump administration is planning to cut 80 thousand employees from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Anthony Jackson, a veteran from Smyrna, joined the crowd in Dover Friday.
“Being a veteran myself, that was the hardest thing about the job,” Jackson said. “I wasn't worried about getting shot. I wasn't worried about getting captured. I was worried about bringing people back, and it really hurts to have gotten them home and then to see them in the later parts of their lives, struggling to get the care that they that we promised them, and so that's really hard.”
Jackson said it’s not just a financial issue to him; it’s about respect.
“The VA has always been starving to begin with… They're talking about completely wiping it out, and that's just adding insult to injury,” Jackson said.
Mitzi Kratt, another protestor, attended the march with her husband. She said they have a friend who will suffer from VA funding cuts.
“He's a wonderful person, and he was in the Vietnam War and served in Korea. And they're taking those services away from him,” Kratt said.
Delaware is home to about 72,000 veterans and the Wilmington VA Hospital provided services to about 44 thousand vets living in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and South Jersey in fiscal year 2024, according to the Wilmington VA Medical Center’s annual report.
Jo-Anne Wazlowski attended the march and said she wants to see more support for the VA and its staff, not less.
“It's wrong. It's just wrong,” Wazlowski said. “We made a promise. We made an oath. We told people when they signed up that we would take care of them, and we're not keeping that promise.”
Wazlowski added she wants the administration to stop laying people off and get hospitals fully staffed.
Paul Kratt, another protester and veteran, concurred.
“I support all the things the VA has done, and I think they could probably do more,” Paul Kratt said. “And it wouldn't hurt me. I'd be happy to pay more taxes for that, unlike Trump.”
Members of the advocacy group Indivisible Southern Delaware also attended the march. Lois Mathews, a group leader and activist with the Indivisible chapter, said veterans are being targeted by the Republican administration.
“Today we're marching for them,” Mathews said. “But we're marching for all of the stakeholder groups in the state of Delaware, including union members, our teachers, our students, all of the people that are about to lose their benefits.”
That includes Social Security and Medicare, Mathews added.
The chapter is partnering with Rep. Sarah McBride on a project to discover how many Delawareans will be affected by potential cuts.
“We have been so reactionary now, since the administration has taken office. We've got to get out in front of this message,” Mathews said.
Indivisible Southern Delaware hosts a weekly protest on Saturdays in Rehoboth Beach, usually outside the Walmart shopping center.
