Post by Clipper on Mar 30, 2023 10:47:59 GMT -5
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war. It was wing night at the VFW so after working in the yard all afternoon we decided to take a ride to the VFW for chicken wings and a coke. They were taking up a collection for a veteran who had lost his home to a fallen tree that crushed his mobile home. We sat by a couple who knew him well. He is a widower who lived by himself. He is disabled, walks with a walker and had to be rescued from the trailer by firefighters. The tree had blocked his exit and he was trapped in a bedroom. As we chatted I found out that he had been awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star with an oak leaf cluster. He had been a chopper pilot who was injured in a crash, spent months in an army hospital in Texas, and when he was released he volunteered to go back to Nam. Once again he was shot down and wounded. Once again he was rescued before he could be captured. In the second crash his back was broken and his legs were crushed. He ended up with his legs and hips held together by pins and screws, hence the walker.
It gives all of us who served and came home unscathed reason to be grateful. No telling how many lives this man saved as a Huey pilot who served not one, but TWO tours flying over hostile territory.
It was amazing. We have a small post with a small membership and when we left they had already collected over $3000. My prayers go out to Capt. Bob K. US Army disability retired. Thankfully he had insurance on the trailer but his temporary living expenses have been piling up.
It gives all of us who served and came home unscathed reason to be grateful. No telling how many lives this man saved as a Huey pilot who served not one, but TWO tours flying over hostile territory.
It was amazing. We have a small post with a small membership and when we left they had already collected over $3000. My prayers go out to Capt. Bob K. US Army disability retired. Thankfully he had insurance on the trailer but his temporary living expenses have been piling up.