Zane Robertson of Salisbury spent 12 years in the Navy, serving parts of four years in Vietnam in the late 1960s.

During his stints there, he served aboard a Navy riverboat, hauling supplies to Marines and Army soldiers stationed inland near the pinnacle of the fighting.

Robertson, now 62 and grandfather of four, is upset about changes proposed for the Hefner VA Medical Center.

On Friday, he taped signs that his grandchildren made to the outside of his minivan.

“Pawpaw’s hospital,” those signs read. “Leave it alone.”

Robertson chuckled as he described what prompted his grandchildren. “They’re upset about what’s going to happen to their granddaddy,” he said.

Robertson was the driving force behind a protest staged Friday by veterans and others outside the VA. Members picketed the medical center, holding signs and asking passing motorists to honk their horns if they supported the protesters.

Plenty of passing drivers did just that.

“We served our country,” read a sign held by one of the protesters. “Will our country serve us?”

“Without acute care, vets get less care,” read another sign.

“Save our ICU,” said a third.

The protesters are upset by the September announcement that the hospital is making a transition away from inpatient, emergency and surgical services to a long-term care and mental health facility for veterans.

Some union leaders who represent VA workers have warned that the changes could result in hundreds of job losses, an accusation that Carolyn Adams, director of the VA, denies.

Numerous veterans have expressed concerns about the changes, saying they’ll soon be dumped in with the general population in seeking treatment at Rowan Regional and other private hospitals.

“We’re hoping to get the word out,” Robertson said. “We want to let ’em know we mean business.”

He admitted Friday morning that turnout for the protest wasn’t what he’d hoped. When Robertson applied with the Salisbury Police Department for a picket to protest, he expected a turnout of hundreds.

There were considerably fewer on hand for most of the protest, which lasted from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“A lot of young veterans should be out here with us,” Robertson said. “Even if they’re just here for 15 or 20 minutes, it’d show they support us. I thought a lot more veterans would be concerned about their medical care.”

Robertson said he suffers from numerous health problems related to his years of military service.

“If not for the VA, I wouldn’t be living right now,” he said. “No insurance company would insure me, and even if they did, the cost would be so high I couldn’t afford it.”

Robertson said he’d never been involved in a picket prior to Friday, saying he’d simply never before felt the need.

“We desperately need to let people know what’s happening out here,” he said.

Essie Hogue, president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees, agreed.

“People are not aware of what’s going on at the VA,” she warned.

Hogue said Adams, the VA director, “tries to sell the story she’s told to sell.” That story, Hogue said, is that changes in medical services for veterans will be minimal.

But Hogue said that’s not true. She said that if veterans are forced to go to Rowan Regional or other private hospitals for care, their out-of-pocket expenses will soar.

“They don’t give you free service over there,” Hogue said, referring to Rowan Regional. “Only if it’s an emergency will they admit you.”

She said if the VA stops treating veterans, Rowan Regional will be inundated with 14,000 new patients, a number it can’t possibly handle.

“It’s all about privatizing,” Hogue said of efforts of government leaders to shift means of providing medical care to veterans. “Certain things don’t need to be privatized.”

Hogue said VA doctors are familiar with treating veterans suffering with service-related ailments like post-traumatic stress disorder and exposure to Agent Orange.

Doctors at private hospitals aren’t going to be nearly so familiar with those problems, Hogue said.

“They spent millions to renovate these buildings, now they’re telling the employees to do something else,” she said. “Surgeons don’t learn other jobs. It tears my heart out that they would do this to us.”

The permit for Friday’s protest restricted picketing to certain areas. Ambulatory picketers were in the grass area in front of the VA. Wheelchair-bound participants were across Brenner Avenue in front of John Calvin Presbyterian Church.

All veterans and military organizations including the American Legion, VFW, DAV and Amvets were invited to participate along with any other citizens taking an interest in the event.