Never Deterred: The Dedication of the Thomas H. Corey Medical Center

VVA National President Jack McManus led a delegation of family, friends, and fellow veterans to South Florida to take part in the April 4 renaming ceremony of the VA Medical Center in West Palm Beach to the Thomas H. Corey VA Medical Center.

Tom Corey, who died at 77 in June 2022, was severely wounded on January 31, 1968, while serving with the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam. By the early 1980s, he became “one of Vietnam Veterans of America’s—and all of America’s—hardest-working, most-dedicated, and widely admired leaders,” McManus said. Among other things, Corey served as VVA’s National Secretary, Vice President, and President.

“Being quadriplegic didn’t stop Tom from becoming a life-long veterans advocate, and an effective and truly inspiring leader,” said VVA Communications Director Mokie Porter, who worked closely with Corey during his time as a VVA National Officer from 1987-2005.

Photos by Mokie Porter, David Treffinger, and Sean Venables

In March 2023, a small group of Corey’s friends, including Porter, his longtime nurse and friend of 30 years Janet Alheit, and VVA leaders Jerry Klein and Jim Doyle, met to discuss a fitting way to preserve Tom Corey’s rich legacy of longtime veterans advocacy and his steely determination not to be deterred by his war injuries.

“Tom Corey was instrumental in bringing the VA Medical Center to Palm Beach,” Alheit said, “and his recent years were focused on the hospital, where he was well known to the directors, staff, doctors, and nurses as a patient and veteran patient’s advocate.”

Renaming the Medical Center in his honor seemed a fitting tribute.

With the full support of Jack McManus, the group, joined by VVA members Bob Mulholland and Jack Devine, began meeting weekly via Zoom to make the renaming a reality. The VVA Florida State Council soon got on board, as did many Florida VVA chapters. West Palm Beach Chapter 25, which Corey was instrumental in founding in 1981, drafted a VVA National Resolution to rename the hospital, which was unanimously approved by delegates to that year’s National Convention in Orlando.

VVA’s Government Affairs department, then led by Acting Director John Stovall and longtime consultant Jim Kuhn then went to work convincing Congress to enact legislation authorizing the renaming. That work paid off in February 2024, when H.R.7333 was introduced in the House by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), Corey’s congressman, and S.3822, its companion bill, was introduced in the Senate by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). The bills had the full support of Florida’s entire congressional delegation.

Photos by Mokie Porter, David Treffinger, and Sean Venables

In March that year, in conjunction with VVA’s annual testimony before Congress, McManus, Alheit, and Rick Corey, Tom’s brother, made key Hill visits accompanied by Stovall, Kuhn, and Mokie Porter to get as much support as possible for the legislation.

The House and Senate bills passed unanimously on July 22 and November 13, 2024. Then, on November 24, just 29 months after Tom Corey’s passing, President Biden signed Public Law No. 118-128 into law. Less than six months later, the West Palm Beach VA facility was officially renamed in a celebratory ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Jack McManus, VVA Florida State Council member and longtime friend of Corey Jerry Klein, Janet Alheit, and Rep. Mast spoke at the event. Tom Corey’s daughter Trang opened the ceremony leading the Pledge of Allegiance. His son Brian Corey delivered a moving Keynote address.

With the renaming, “our friend Tom Corey’s legacy will never be forgotten,” Porter said. “He will live forever in all our hearts for his noble service and sacrifice for his country and the veterans he dearly loved.”

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