Lloyd Vollmer, a Resident at the Minnesota Veterans Home – Hastings was all smiles when he received a much needed surprise in late January. As he rounded the corner, he was greeted by members of his family waiting happily to share some news with him.

In 1948, Lloyd was in San Diego for basic training to join the Marine Corps when he began losing a majority of his teeth. This past December, right around Lloyd’s 89th birthday, a tooth began to break off from his dentures.

Lloyd contacted the Federal VA about getting his tooth repaired, but they were unable to cover the cost. Not sure what to do, Lloyd resorted to supergluing his tooth back in. When Lloyd’s daughter, Lesa Woitas heard of his plans to glue his tooth back together she started looking for other ways to get his dentures repaired properly. She reached out to the Soldier’s Wish organization.

Soldier’s Wish specializes in identifying and providing for unmet needs of active duty service members, Veterans, and their families from all branches of service. They received the application for the wish that Lesa sent in, and it was quickly reviewed and approved by their Board of Directors. Soldier’s Wish contacted Randy Tesdahl from the Minnesota American Legion who coordinated and granted Lloyd’s wish.

In addition to having his denture repairs taken care of, the American Legion is looking into why the Federal VA wouldn’t approve the repair, and are working to see if there is a way they can address the gap for other individuals. 

“I can’t thank you people enough” Lloyd said when he was told that his denture repairs would be completely covered, “I’ll never forget it.”

You can learn more about Soldier’s Wish, and read more stories about those they’ve helped at their website, SoldiersWish.org.