Across the street from the State House, where Gov. Deval Patrick was taking the oath of office for his second term, a hardy band of intergenerational brothers gathered in freezing temperatures to protest Patrick’s decision to force Tom Kelley out as head of the state’s Veterans Services.
From young to old, there was one common theme on why they stood out in the cold to support the Vietnam hero.
“He’s a Medal of Honor recipient,” says Bill Laliberte, 70, a disabled Vietnam era Marine veteran from Taunton. “That’s good enough for me.”
 But interviews with the 40 or so veterans from World War II to Afghanistan gathered at the Boston Common found few could list Kelley’s achievements in office – or  even knew him – leaning instead on his service in Vietnam as a Navy captain, where he lost an eye in the incident that earned him the Medal of Honor in 1969, as the reason he should remain in his post.
“He’s all about the veterans,” says Tim Ryan, 23, of Wilmington who has served two tours in Afghanistan. “I don’t know why they would replace him.”
But when asked if he knew Kelley, had ever dealt with Kelley, or availed himself of any services through Kelley’s office, Ryan said no. And he admitted he was unaware of the background of Kelley’s interim successor, Undersecretary of Veterans Services Coleman Nee.
In fact, Nee, who has been derided by Kelley supporters as a political appointee whose background is in communications, is a Marine veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm.
 Kelley told Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen he was asked to submit a vision statement for the next four years but then was told the administration wanted a change of course. But he says he’s never been told what the “new direction” Patrick was seeking. He told Cullen, and friends of his told the Boston Herald’s Peter Gelzinis, Kelley’s always done his job with his constituents, not his bosses, in mind.
“Politics never entered the equation,’’ Kelley told Cullen, “until now.’’
Kelley, 71, was at the rally yesterday to save his job but declined to answer any questions.
“I’ve done enough talking,” says Kelley, who was first appointed to the post by then-Gov. Paul Cellucci.
Kelley was held over when Patrick first took over but officials said fear of backlash as much as Kelley’s advocacy skills contributed to retaining him.
 “I’d be lying if I said (public relations) had nothing to do with it,” says one Patrick confidante involved in the first transition.  “Obviously, everything you do as a new administration is subject to scrutiny and PR considerations.”
Kelley’s boss, Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby, told Kelley last month the administration wanted to take the Veterans Services “in a new direction.” Nee, who went out of his way in an interview with CommonWealth to praise Kelley’s service as an advocate for veterans, said that new direction includes a focus on eliminating homelessness among veterans, creating a diversion program for vets who drift in and out of the criminal justice system, and bringing the agency into the world of technology for filing benefits and getting assistance.
“When I first got here three years ago, I said I cannot believe that we’re still using the amount of paper mail that we do,” says Nee. “We have a lot of paper mail. People under the age of 30 communicate on the Internet. They expect to be able to get answers on the Internet and not have to drive down to an office. They don’t even read their mail.”
Nee says the veterans’ agency has more on its plate than at any time in recent history. There are two wars ongoing, although Iraq is winding down, and National Guard troops and reserves are serving multiple tours, leaving young families at home and vulnerable emotionally and economically.
Since 2001, nearly 35,000 Massachusetts guardsmen have been deployed to Iran and Afghanistan. The multiple deployments and nature of the fighting has unearthed a different set of emotional problems for returning soldiers, sailors and Marines such as homelessness, post-traumatic stress, and suicide in a larger scale.
“The nature of the wars we’re currently fighting now, they’ve really taxed out our guard and reserves,” says Nee. “It is incumbent upon us as public policy professionals to find solutions and services.”
Nee, who says he’s made no decision on whether to pursue the job on a full-time basis, says he’s not gotten any negative reactions from the veteran organizations around the state even though many have criticized Patrick’s decision to dump Kelley.
“Everybody knew that we were all looking at our structures,” says Nee. “I’ve talked to a majority of the leading veterans organizations. . . All of those folks said to a person that the governor has the right to appoint the team that the governor wants. They’ve expressed a willingness and a desire to work with me. I have not sensed animosity.”