March 2010:

Franklin Veterans Clinic Opens

BY Jessica Goff
The Daily Iberian
Friday, March 12, 2010

FRANKLIN — Lawrence Layton said he does not like to talk about his experience in Vietnam, not even to his wife.

But he bears the physical and emotional scars to prove he was there in Lai Kai with the 82nd Airborne Division, dodging mortar rounds all around him.

“I’d get letters from my mother asking how and what I was doing, and after a few weeks I just couldn’t explain to her,” said the 63-year-old Franklin resident Thursday afternoon as he stood outside the new Veterans Administration Franklin Community Based Outpatient Clinic on Hafleigh Street. He was among 120 others who came for the clinic’s official dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“It was the same thing every day, we were doing the same thing over and over,” Layton said. “We were dodging bullets and trying to stay alive.”

Layton was hit in the back and arms by 40 pieces of shrapnel, wounds that left his body covered in long pinkish scars that stream down his body like lightning bolts.

Most of the metal pieces, he said, were removed. The remaining have worn down and have become less painful over time. Seeing and feeling the war have caused more mental stress, he said, adding he has sought treatment for his physical ailment and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Before the Southwest Louisiana Veteran’s Health Care System opened the facility Jan. 25, Layton said he had to drive to Houma to see his doctor.

He has been to one appointment since the Franklin clinic’s opened its doors and was pleased with the service, he said, noting the clinic’s opening is a big help to local veterans.

“I think its convenient, we don’t to drive too far anywhere. It’s nice,” he said.

Layton said he still has to occasionally travel to Houma for treatment but plans to become more acquainted with the Franklin clinic in the coming months.

Wednesday’s dedication was to commemorate the building to Franklin veterans and the clinic’s staff.

Several public officials including Franklin council members, St. Mary Parish President Paul Naquin, state Rep. Sam Jones, D-Franklin, and Mayor Raymond Harris Jr., spoke during the dedication along with representatives from veteran-based health care agencies.

“In our eyes, anyone who has put on a uniform is a hero,” said Dr. Ray Lanier of Valor Healthcare to a crowd of seated veterans outside the facility.

Valor Healthcare teams with Southwest Louisiana Veteran’s Health Care in operating the clinic.

“Thank you for your service,” Lanier said.

The Franklin Community Based Outpatient Clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information call (800) 310-5001.