Veterans Affairs officials have been at the center of controversy in the past, withdrawing a memo calling for the removal of an iconic photo of a Navy sailor kissing a woman in Times Square.
Lima Ann Nelson, assistant secretary for health affairs, sparked the fire. including calls Her firing comes after she sent a memo to Veterans Affairs officials last week, including a historic photo of a Navy sailor kissing a woman in Times Square on VJ Day in 1945, that all VA health care They requested that it be removed from the building. The department’s “zero tolerance policy for sexual harassment and assault.
The incident is not the first time Nelson has come under intense scrutiny during his tenure at the Veterans Administration.
Nelson was appointed to head the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Agency in 2016, a decision that drew the ire of then-Democrat and current Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and former Republican Rep. Matt Salmon, among others. wrote a letter Nelson asked then-President Obama to reconsider his appointment because of Nelson’s previous work at the St. Louis VA Hospital.
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Lima Ann Nelson took issue with the iconic 1945 photo. (Department of Veterans Affairs)
“When I first heard about the VA’s recent appointments in Phoenix, I immediately felt it must be some kind of cruel joke,” Salmon wrote at the time. “After years of working with the Phoenix veteran community, I know they deserve better.”
“We, and the It’s obviously offensive to each and every one of us veterans. We represent.”
Nelson served as president of the St. Louis VA Hospital from 2009 to 2013, during the time the veteran was a veteran. reportedly exposed For HIV and hepatitis. CNN reported The investigation found that “st.
According to reports A call from Central Arizona led investigators to follow up to see if the issue had been resolved at the facility, but it was not.of Daily Caller reports The conditions were so bad that the veteran was left in feces for “several days.”
Despite documented problems at the hospital, Nelson reported to have received Bonuses of over $25,000.
In the same week, two World War II-era bazooka shells were discovered in a Massachusetts river by magnet fishing.
A poster commemorating Alfred Eisenstaedt’s photograph has been hung in Times Square. (Brian Thomas/Getty Images)
Ms. Nelson’s days ended in St. Louis after her decision to move to a facility in the Philippines, where she earned $160,000 a year in a country known for its low cost of living.
Nelson’s tenure leading the Phoenix VA was also controversial.
Fox News reported After Nelson was hired in 2016, he said the Phoenix facility was “ranked as one of the worst in the country in 2017.”
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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs building. (Photo credit goes to ALASTAIR PIKE/AFP via Getty Image)
A spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed to Fox News Digital that Nelson’s memo was sent, but should not have been sent and has been retracted.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Dennis McDonough invalidated the memo in a statement Tuesday.
“To be clear, this image is not prohibited from being used at a VA facility. We will keep it at a VA facility,” McDonough said.
Still, two Republicans, Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Ryan Zinke of Montana, wrote a letter to McDonough asking for Nelson’s removal.
“Not only is this proposed policy poorly conceived, it is somehow seen as an operational priority for VHA in the face of significant problems with recruitment and retention, hiring freezes, and budget constraints. “This raises questions about VHA’s organizational structure and the quality of some of its core management team,” the letter states.
McDonough responded to the letter in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, “Lima has dedicated her career to serving veterans. We are fortunate to have her in the VA and she is a member of the VA.” It will remain in place,” he said.
A VA spokesperson told FOX News Digital that Nelson’s role as assistant secretary for operational health comes at a time when the agency is “providing more health care to more veterans than ever before.” Ta. almost 70% of VA hospitals outnumber non-VA hospitals.
Fox News Digital’s Brianna Herlihy and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report
