Printer Friendly Page
VIETNAM VETERANS FIND HELP AND HEALING TOGETHER
--
"I had a really difficult time adjusting to
civilian life when I came
home, for so many reasons. It's been a
difficult road."
For more about Vietnam veterans, use the VA Watchdog search
engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=vietnam&op=and
Story here...
http://www.myrtlebeach
online.com/news/local/story/203105.html
Story below:
-------------------------
Vietnam veterans find help, healing together
Chapter supports troops who fought in unpopular
war
By Jordan Cooke
The Smithfield (N.C.) Herald
SMITHFIELD, N.C. -- The images of an unpopular war still haunt Harold
Herring in his dreams.
More than 1 million soldiers, including some 58,000 Americans, died in
the Vietnam War, which lasted from 1954 until 1975. Millions more
Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian civilians also died.
The death and destruction that surrounded Herring and his fellow
soldiers have been hard to forget. The years since his return have been
filled with nights of fitful sleep and horrifying flashbacks, Herring
said.
A resident of the Meadow community, Herring has been taking medication
for post-traumatic stress disorder for longer than he can now remember.
He also suffers from high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes
because of his contact with Agent Orange, a powerful herbicide sprayed
across Vietnam to defoliate the jungles.
"I had a really difficult time adjusting to civilian life when I came
home, for so many reasons," Herring said. "It's been a difficult road."
Until a year ago, Herring had talked about his pain and suffering only
with his wife of 38 years, Joyce. But then a small band of his comrades
decided to form a Johnston County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of
America.
The idea came about during a conversation with County Commissioner Wade
Stewart, also a Vietnam veteran, said Willis Stewart, president of the
newly formed Chapter 990 of the VVA. "Wade asked some of us if we'd like
to get together and chew the fat," Stewart said. "It seemed like a good
idea. We decided to become affiliated with VVA after finding out what
its mission was and a little about them."
According to its Web site, the VVA, formed in 1978, is the only national
group congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era
veterans and their families. The group boasts 50,000 members in 630
local chapters nationwide.
Sixteen chapters exist in North Carolina, including Chapter 990, which
became a recognized member during a brief ceremony this past Saturday at
White Swan Bar-B-Q in Smithfield. The recognition came as a relief to
Stewart and fellow officers John Noles, Ronnie Williams and Lee Hayes.
Together, they and fellow vet John Davis spent about a year gathering
the signatures needed to petition the VVA for a charter.
Paul Crowell, president of the N.C. Vietnam Veterans of America, said
the group's official status would allow a delegate to attend regional
and national conferences. Also, the group will have representation in
the nation's capitol as the VVA lobbies the federal government for
greater support of Vietnam veterans.
"The thing about all this is that we're fighting so hard to ensure that
these guys get the benefits they deserve," Crowell said. "The government
made a promise years ago to take care of its veterans, but it's not
fulfilling that promise. We have to fight for everything."
"Our primary concern is to see that no veteran is ever forgotten again,"
Stewart added.
"People tended for years to look down on the Vietnam veteran. They said
there had to be a little something wrong with us if we participated in
Vietnam."
"That didn't really change until the Gulf War," Stewart added. "Now
things are vastly different for all veterans. People have realized the
tremendous burden we've borne and are continuing to bear."
The greatest benefit of VVA membership is the fraternization, Crowell
said.
"It's about the camaraderie," he said. "We were all in the same place
and know where each other are coming from. Other people don't understand
what we're going through."
-------------------------
Larry Scott --
