Billy Long, the VA Clinic, and Colored Veterans: Overheard at Aldi's

Jim Lee has an interesting story that appears to be making the rounds in Springfield about Congressman Billy Long, the VA Clinic, and Southwest Missouri's "colored" veterans:

Overheard in Aldi's.....

A frequent bus rider related this encounter to me:

Yesterday afternoon (Tuesday)around 4:00 PM she was shopping with her two-year-old niece in the Aldi's market on Battlefield and Jefferson
As she was in the checkout line, with her niece sitting in the child's seat in the shopping cart, an older man, also in line (a veteran as she soon learned as the conversation progressed), started talking to the aunt and her niece.

The conversation turned to the cost of groceries, the economy and finally healthcare.

The man volunteered that he received his health care at the VA Clinic in Mount Vernon, Missouri.
Then, and I swear by all that I value that this is an exact quote- as related to me by the aunt--whom I trust implicitly--, the man said, "They're closing the VA in Mount Vernon and moving it to Springfield because Billy Long said they can serve more colored veterans here." 


White alone - 4,468 (98.7%)
Two or more races - 25 (0.6%)
Hispanic - 29 (0.6%)
Black alone - 6 (0.1%)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Mount-Vernon-Missouri.html#ixzz1lC5uAfS6
White alone - 140,107 (89.1%)
Black alone - 5,471 (3.5%)
Hispanic - 4,711 (3.0%)
Two or more races - 3,814 (2.4%)
Asian alone - 2,414 (1.5%)
American alone - 388 (0.2%)
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 102 (0.06%)
Other race alone - 73 (0.05%)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Springfield-Missouri.html#ixzz1lC4kVmqc

Thanks, Bro!