Honoring Veterans, One Visit at a Time: How a Chance Encounter Sparked a Mission of Compassion
One day in the summer of 2024, honor guard members of the Harry F.W. Johnson American Legion Post 379 in Bethlehem stopped in at the St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus hospital to visit their post commander who was in the hospital. What seemed like a simple stop, prior to going to a military funeral to perform honors, has grown into an expansive mission that has now touched hundreds of lives.
When they were in the hospital elevator, a woman entered and asked if they would visit her father. They agreed. Then, another individual, who had a father in ICU, asked if they’d visit him too.
Inspired by these chance encounters, the Legion representatives reached out to St. Luke’s Volunteer Services to explore the possibility of making veteran visits a regular occurrence. In December of 2024, this idea became a reality and now has touched over 500 veterans through weekly visits.
In addition to connecting with veterans through conversation and stories, each visit includes a special gesture: a gifted commemorative coin and a star, symbolizing gratitude and recognition.
The stories they’ve encountered are as diverse as they are powerful. One veteran served on a nuclear submarine for 84 days underwater, another was a 100-year-old WWII veteran. They’ve met pilots, front-line fighters and even a member of the Italian Army who didn’t speak English yet still shared the meaningful connection of military service.
“Some of the visits are extremely moving,” said Craig Sostarecz, one of the participating Legion members. “I recall being deeply affected by visits with an amputee and a police officer battling cancer.”
Some veterans have expressed humility, even apologizing for not serving in combat roles. But the team reminds them: when you sign on the dotted line, you become government property. Every role matters, every service counts, and every veteran deserves to be honored.
The impact extends beyond the veteran patients themselves. Families are deeply moved to see their loved ones recognized and remembered. For some patients, these volunteers are their only visitors—a reminder that they are not forgotten.
“We are grateful for the service they gave to our country, and their dedication to this new mission, honoring those who served, one visit at a time,” said Georgina Winfield, St. Luke’s Network Director of Volunteer & Staffing Resources. “They’ve visited more than 500 veterans since they started this volunteer endeavor and have made meaningful connections with our veteran patients.”
Post 379 includes representatives from the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy. With 18–19 active participants, including seven shooters for the 21-gun salute and a live bugler, they continue to seek more volunteers from the veteran community to visit veterans in the hospital or volunteer to support their primary mission of honoring veterans through funerals and commemorations on Veterans Day, Vietnam Remembrance Day, and Pearl Harbor Day.
If you would like more information about volunteering at St. Luke’s, please visit https://www.slhn.org/volunteers or submit a contact form with your interests. For information on how to join the American Legion Post 379, please contact Craig Sostarecz at 610-248-8208.
Post 379 will be leading St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus’ flag raising in front of the hospital at 8 a.m. on Monday, November 10. The public is welcome. The flag raising will be followed by a free breakfast for veterans in the hospital cafeteria.
Other Veterans Day-related events will be taking place throughout the Network. For more information, see: St. Luke’s University Health Network – List.
Photo caption: From left, Michael Tagliareni, Dennis O’Connor, Craig Sostarecz, Joe Herkalo, Robert Corvino, James Reese, John Bracali.
About St. Luke’s
Founded in 1872, St. Luke’s University Health Network (SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network with annual net revenue of more than $4.5 billion. With 23,000+ employees at 16 hospital campuses and 350+ outpatient sites, it is the Lehigh Valley’s biggest employer.
The Network’s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke’s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital.
Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke’s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania. In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley’s first and only four-year medical school. It also operates the nation’s oldest School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 50+ fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with 500+ residents and fellows.
St. Luke’s has been named a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades Top Hospital and a Newsweek World’s Best Hospital. It is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare’s five-star ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction. In 2025, the Network earned straight A’s from Leapfrog across all of its 11 acute care hospitals. It has earned 100 Top Hospital designations from Premier 11 years in a row, including in 2021 when its flagship University Hospital was identified as THE #1 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY. Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the Most Wired award recognizing the breadth of SLUHN’s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information.
Information provided to TVL by:
Gary R. Blockus
