Air Force veteran Pat Fickle, 82, , left, sits outside the Spokane Veterans Administration Medical Center with Vietnam veteran Charles Bourg, who is holding a clipboard for petition signatures Monday. The veterans gathered to protest the closing of an exercise program that served veterans who needed fitness or therapy workouts. The veterans, ranging World War II to the recent Gulf Wars, say the program and the camaraderie of the people involved have helped them lose weight, combat diabetes and back problems. Fickle said the three-times-a-week workouts helped him cut down his insulin use and need for constant oxygen. Fickle served in the Air Force in the 1950s. SR story here, subscription. (Jesse Tinsley/SR photo)