Stephen Martin is a Marine Corps Veteran. For the past two weeks he has been carrying around a number to the Governor's office. He has dialed that number every day and is hoping other veterans did too.

He wants to make sure Gov. Deval Patrick signs a bill to restored $550,000 to the Holyoke Soldiers' Home Budget. Two weeks ago, the Soldiers' Home announced that it would cut all outpatient services come Dec. 1 since Patrick administration cut nearly $900,000 from its budget.

"Governor, I hope you set aside the fact that you are a politician and you consider what is in your heart and in your soul for what is good for the veterans of this state," veteran Stephen Martin said.

For the past week veterans and healthcare workers at the Soldiers' Home have rallied in Western Mass. and lobbied in Boston. They were determined and desperate to keep the service running. The one-stop-shop outpatient center sees close to 2,500 veterans a year.

Soldiers' Home Laboratory Supervisor Susan Porter said, "We were stunned, we were appalled, we were saddened. I had vets in my laboratory crying, 'where will I go and what will I do?'"

Ninety-year-old Veteran Paul Camyre said he cannot even believe it is something the state would ever think of taking away.

"I feel I did my part and all the veterans that come here did their part and the state that's running it is really extending my life. I'm 90 years old and I've been coming here for six or seven years," veteran Paul Camyre said.

"The veterans are a very special population. They served us in our time of need and took care of us. They went to bat and were in the foxholes and in the battlefield. They didn't ask questions they just did it and we now need to take care of them," Porter said.

"I'm not saying this is a right; I'm saying this is something we've earned," Martin said.

"Closing this place would just be a sin on someone's soul," Camyre said.

The Governor is expected to make a decision within the next week. The Soldiers' Home is asking all concerned veterans and their families to call the Governor's officer to approve the legislation.