Our vets deserve better, no DOGE coward cuts,” Tracie Martin, co-founder of NWI Takes Action, chanted Friday along the Highway of Flags memorial in Highland.

Donna Wurster, who lives in Murphy, receives treatment at the VA in Dallas for extensive nerve damage in both legs, arthritis and a long list of other physical ailments due to her 20 years in the Army and Army Reserves. Wurster said she is nervous that wait times will increase and veterans will be without health care they desperately need.

The protest is the latest in a backlash against Trump’s decisions since starting his second term in January. People are also protesting Elon Musk, whose actions with the Department of Government Efficiency have led to the Department of Veterans Affairs announcing plans to cut 80,000 employees.