Thousands of veterans are facing yet another war as they battle COVID-19. But this time around, they have an extra set of hands and hearts helping them on the front lines.

Serving those who served is the Syracuse VA’s mission. So, once the ICU nurses heard help was needed in the New York City area, they were the first to answer the call.

“It was a different experience,” said Aubre Marcotte, the Syracuse VA ICU nurse manager. “Very critical patients and just a lot of them. It’s fearful for the nurses, it’s stressful because we want to give the best care that we can to our veterans.”

Marcotte spent two weeks in the surgical ICU at the Manhattan VA.

“They were long term critical patients,” said Marcotte. “It wasn’t you had the patient for the week and then they got better, they pretty much sustained being at a critical level the entire time. So, it was hard.”

Just 12 miles away, ICU Assistant Nurse Manager Paula Mason felt that similar pain. She spent two weeks at the Brooklyn VA caring for veterans and civilians.

“There are a lot of patients and sometimes not enough nurses,” said Mason. “You’re giving the best care you possibly can, and sometimes you go home at the end of the day and you think the best you did, you question, could I have done better?”

The nurses’ 12-hour strenuous shifts never truly ended because the vets and their loved ones were constantly on their minds.

“The patients were alone,” said Mason. “We did a lot of FaceTiming as much as we could with the families. It was very painful both to the family member and to myself sometimes because you could feel the grief and the sorrow.”

In those moments, Mason and Marcotte were more than just nurses. They took care of the vets’ health, but also their hearts.

“Anytime I went into the room, they may have been on their drugs to keep them sedated, but just talking to them and holding their hand,” said Marcotte.

It’s a connection these nurses will never forget, along with the many lessons they learned.

“Sometimes in anyone’s career, you question if this is the right path for me,” said Mason. “I tell ya’, I definitely know it was the right path when I was down there. I felt I made a difference. I know I made a difference. If anything happens up here, I feel better prepared.”

Prepared to save more lives and fulfill their promise.

“I signed up for this,” said Marcotte. “Kind of just like the veterans, they signed up to go into the Army, the Air Force, (and) the Marines. That’s what we do. It’s my job. It’s my duty.”