{"id":7896,"date":"2025-03-30T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-30T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7896"},"modified":"2025-03-30T18:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-30T18:30:00","slug":"why-one-veterans-resilience-remains-unshaken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7896","title":{"rendered":"Why one Veteran\u2019s resilience remains unshaken"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2025-03-30T18:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

From one battle to the next, including four types of cancers linked to his time at Ground Zero, Eliot Winokur\u2019s resilience has remained unshaken.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0retired, Army lieutenant colonel\u00a0is a\u00a0competitive swimmer and a\u00a0cancer warrior; he has faced each day with the same discipline and determination that defined his\u00a035 years of military service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Swimming isn\u2019t just a sport for him\u2014it\u2019s his\u00a0lifeline. Three times a week he races against the clock in the local swimming lap pool, covering\u00a0a mile and a half per session.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0over 40 years, Eliot has been a competitive swimmer, a passion he credits to his late brother. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother was a\u00a0competition swimmer, and he got me into it,\u201d he recalled. \u201cHe passed away from\u00a0Parkinson\u2019s at 79, but I keep a picture of him in my bedroom that motivates me to\u00a0keep going. I pick events that\u00a0older folks stay away from, like the\u00a0400-meter individual medley\u00a0and the\u00a0200-meter butterfly. There\u2019s not much competition, and I\u00a0enjoy the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMilitary taught me to pick a goal and stick with it.\u201d<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe military gave me\u00a0discipline\u00a0and\u00a0focus,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt taught me to\u00a0pick a goal, stick with it and achieve it. That mindset is what\u2019s helped me keep going through\u00a0every health challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

His\u00a0service spannws both\u00a0active and reserve duty. He started as an Army security agency cryptanalytic specialist\u00a0and later became a\u00a0medical service officer, spending\u00a0seven years recruiting doctors for the Army Reserve. As a\u00a0former recruiter for Army Reserve doctors, he\u00a0understood the qualifications\u00a0of VA medical professionals better than most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u00a0know their credentials, their backgrounds, and their expertise,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s a\u00a0great system, and I wanted\u00a0all my records in one place whether at the\u00a0Bronx VA<\/a> in New York\u00a0or\u00a0West Palm Beach VA<\/a>. That continuity is critical, especially for someone with\u00a0a lot of medical issues. If you\u00a0take care of things early, you\u2019re far better off than\u00a0waiting until it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

With every swim, every breath and every fight,\u00a0Eliot Winokur proves that resilience isn\u2019t about surviving, it\u2019s about thriving.<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From one battle to the next, including four types of cancers, Eliot Winokur\u2019s resilience remains unshaken.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy one Veteran\u2019s resilience remains unshaken - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From one battle to the next, including four types of cancers, Eliot Winokur\u2019s resilience remains unshaken.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7896\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why one Veteran\u2019s resilience remains unshaken - 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