Veterans Of America

Hoping to heal old wounds and reunite generations of veterans, Rick Will and Gary Jestes have started organizing a Carroll County chapterof the Vietnam Veterans of America.The group, which needs 25 members to become a chapter, numbered about 10 at the organizational meeting Wednesday night. Jestes, who is creating a roster of Carroll residents who served during Vietnam, estimates about 1,000 countians areeligible."We're trying to get them to come out of the closet, so to speak," he said. "The war was so unpopular that (the veterans)

Ronald Charles Rose, a retired state corrections training officer and Vietnam War veteran, died of multiple medical conditions Thursday at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Homeland resident was 63. Mr. Rose was born and raised in Vandergrift, Pa., and served in the Marine Corps from 1960 to 1966. "It was while he was serving in Vietnam from 1964 to 1966 that he was exposed to Agent Orange, which eventually led to diabetes, heart and lung problems," said his wife of 24 years, the former Lynne Warren.

When organizers of Vietnam Veterans of America's Baltimore chapter reserved the Baltimore City Rowing Club for their first meeting in fall 1988, the turnout -- 12 veterans -- was so light that they didn't use the hall inside."

American Vietnam vets, New Zealanders reuniteRick Will Sr., secretary of the Carroll County chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America and Maryland State Council treasurer, participated in a reunion Tuesday at the Vietnam Veterans Wall in Washington with veterans from New Zealand.The Vietnam Veterans of America welcomed 76 New Zealand veterans to the memorial. The visitors laid a wreath and presented a list of 246 New Zealanders who died in Vietnam.Will noted that many New Zealanders, like the American Vietnam veterans, were not readily accepted upon returning home after the war. Many also suffer from debilitating effects of the war, including Agent Orange symptoms.

When Robert Coughlin returned from his tour of duty in the Vietnam War, he recalls being spat upon and ridiculed.Thirty years later, Coughlin and the other 46 members of Dundalk's Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 451 expect a far different reception when they present the American flag Saturday before the first preseason game at Baltimore's new Ravens stadium."

During a parade and ceremony organized by Laurel's Hunters Creek Homeowners Association, Vietnam War hero Alfred V. Rascon was honored yesterday by some of those closest to him: his neighbors. "Freedom is not free," Rascon told them during brief remarks after a slow procession that carried him up Derby Drive in Hunters Creek to the community pond. Brightly dressed youngsters, holding American flags, listened quietly to his words. Parade participants, including honor guards from the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 451 from Dundalk and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, stood at solemn attention during the ceremony.

Two thousand Vietnam War veterans in Cecil County now have a place close to home to go when they want to help other veterans or need help themselves.Vietnam Veterans of America Inc., Cecil County Chapter 722, was incorporated last month. It provides camaraderie, community service and assistance with records and benefits for its 71 members.Because some veterans had been traveling up to 50 miles to the nearest chapter in Bel Air, Ray Aldao and Dale and Louise Johnson decided to form another chapter closer to home.

EASTON -- It doesn't add up. But then it's not really a matter of arithmetic.If there are 6,000 to 8,000 military veterans of the Vietnam war era living on the Eastern Shore, why was it so difficult to find 25 of them to form a chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America?"

In the early morning sunlight on The Mall in Washington, two men who hadn't seen each other since the war they shared 22 years ago met and hugged.Tears brimmed in Roy Gray Jr.'s eyes. He hadn't expected to see anyone from his old outfit when he left his home in Manchester early yesterday morning. He and other members of the Carroll County chapter of Vietnam Veterans of America were just going to Washington to participate in Veterans Day ceremonies marking the 10th anniversary of the Vietnam veterans memorial.

EASTON -- It doesn't add up. But then it's not really a matter of arithmetic.If there are 6,000 to 8,000 military veterans of the Vietnam war era living on the Eastern Shore, why was it so difficult to find 25 of them to form a chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America?"