Waterford — John was an Army veteran suffering in the throes of dementia. He was living in a nursing home and had not interacted with the outside world for six months. No eye contact. No verbal exchange. He had completely shut down. That was, until a woman, an Air Force veteran, pinned a small American flag lapel pin onto his collar. He looked up as she saluted him, and he saluted her back. At that point, John began to weep. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

Christie Williams, vice president of philanthropy for the Center for Hospice Care in Norwich, tells this story to demonstrate the simple but profound significance of these pinning ceremonies, which the center holds for veterans throughout the year.

“This is something we have found is very meaningful to the veterans we provide care to and very, very meaningful to their families,” Williams said.

In John’s case, his family reached out and asked the center to hold the pinning ceremony for him.

The center conducts about 70 of these ceremonies a year, oftentimes at a veteran’s home. But on Tuesday, the center conducted one of its larger pinning ceremonies to honor 17 residents of the New London Rehab & Care Center of Waterford. The honorees represented service in all branches of the military. Some of them were under the center’s hospice care, others were not.

The recognition was part of the center’s We Honor Veterans program, a nationwide initiative that provides for the unique needs of veterans at the end of their lives. Four hospice volunteers, all veterans who have been pinned themselves, presided over the ceremony. They were: Sgt. Annette Montoya, U.S. Army, retired; 1st Lt. Judy Reed, RN, U.S. Army, retired; Lt. Edward “Ned” Ruete, U.S. Navy, retired; and Master Chief Petty Officer William “Bob” Salen, U.S. Navy, retired.

Williams estimates that of the roughly 650 patients who the center serves in a year, 150 to 200 of them are veterans. Staff and volunteers at the center receive specialized training, including for PTSD, pain management and in how to encourage veterans to talk about their wartime and military experience.

“It can be anything from allowing an opportunity for verbalization, allowing an opportunity for expression of feelings, or it could be something more concrete, like being aware that if somebody is in a nursing facility, that the beeping of the bells, the call bells, could put someone in a place of being uncomfortable because it reminds them of different things that happened during the war,” said Sharon Schaffer, a social worker with the center.

“It’s to be able to say thank you. Thank you for what you’ve done. Thank you for your service,” she said.

j.bergman@theday.com

Twitter: @JuliaSBergman