DANVERS — When Dr. Louise DePodesta visited Edward Flynn this week, she took his pulse, checked his blood pressure and listened to his heartbeat.
Then she thanked him for his service to his country.
DePodesta's gesture was not just a passing moment. It's part of an outreach program by Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston to express gratitude for the sacrifices of veterans in their care and to identify the services they need.
"We are thanking them, but we're also saying that we can give them freedom from suffering at the end of life," DePodesta said.
As part of the program, called the Freedom Rock project, doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains and volunteers at Hospice of the North Shore are trained to thank veterans and help connect them with services through the Veterans Administration.
Hospice workers present veterans with a "Freedom Rock," a small black rock with the words, "Freedom. In gratitude for your service to our country." A hospice volunteer plans to collect veterans' stories and submit them to the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress.
DePodesta, a Marblehead resident who has been with Hospice of the North Shore & Greater Boston since 2007, helped come up with the Freedom Rock project. She said she was inspired by a recent conference at which a Veterans Administration official spoke about the number of World War II veterans dying every day.
DePodesta's late father was a World War II veteran, and DePodesta herself served as a U.S. Army doctor in Germany for two years in the 1980s.
DePodesta said veterans are often surprised, and pleased, when she makes a point to thank them.
"One veteran said to me, 'You are the 13th person who ever thanked me. I keep track,'" she said.
"This isn't a political thing," DePodesta said. "It's a personal thing from us to our veterans."
Hospice caregivers need to be aware of the unique circumstances of veterans, she said. Veterans who have not talked about their war experiences for years might open up as they prepare to confront their own death.
"Some of them say, 'I know I'm dying now, but all my friends died 50 years ago,'" she said.
As DePodesta chatted with Flynn, he pulled out his Navy discharge papers and told her about his service in Northern Ireland during World War II.
The 86-year-old Flynn lives in Danvers with his wife, Barbara, and his dog, Lucky, a greyhound who used to run races at Wonderland Greyhound Park.
Flynn has cystic fibrosis and kidney problems and breathes with the help of an oxygen tank.
As they talked, DePodesta handed Flynn a Freedom Rock and said, "I would like to thank you on behalf of our organization."
"Very nice," Flynn said. "Very nice."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by email at pleighton@salemnews.com.
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