For more than 20 years, Luke Graziani served his country with the promise that his sacrifice would be remembered.

“Not long after 9/11, in 2002, I answered the call and enlisted into the Army,” Graziani said. “There was a nation in need, so I raised my hand and I enlisted.”

Now the 45-year-old wonders if that promise is fading after he received an email terminating his employment at the Bronx Veterans Affairs Hospital.

He’s one of the 1,400 probationary federal employees across the country laid off to reduce government spending.

“Initially, there was a part of me that was like, ‘after everything I’ve done, this is how I’m treated. This is the thanks that I’m getting,’” Graziani said.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says the layoffs will save the agency more than $83 million. Graziani, though, says his boss had no idea about the impending terminations.

“This is the government and there are ways of doing things, and I think just having a list of names on a spreadsheet and indiscriminately firing them was not the way to do it,” Graziani said.

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said “DOGE isn’t making government more efficient. It’s creating more chaos. This isn’t what Americans or veterans signed up for.”

He’s also receiving support from other congress members, including Grace Meng. She says, in part, “The GOP is betraying the brave men and women who have sacrificed everything to serve our nation. I stand with Luke and all veterans who have been impacted as we fight these mass firings.”

Graziani applied for an exemption. He’s still holding out hope he’ll be able to go back to work, or he’ll have to move his young family out of state to be with relatives until he gets back on his feet.

“With this job that I got as a federal employee, what I thought came with it was a sense of stability, and now, it’s a little unclear and uncertain,” Graziani said.