Veterans

Martin Daniel Heiderman, who fought in Vietnam with the Marines and later worked for the Veterans Administration, died of pulmonary disease Sunday at Memorial Hospital at Easton. He was 55 and lived in the Talbot County community of Wittman. Mr. Heiderman was born in Baltimore and raised in Violetville. After graduating from City College in 1965, he enlisted in the Marine Corps. He served 14 months in Vietnam with an infantry unit. He was awarded the Purple Heart after being wounded in a mortar attack, and attained the rank of sergeant.

Thomas E. Bratten Jr., a decorated, disabled Vietnam War veteran who went on to become the first secretary of the state Department of Veterans Affairs, died Wednesday of complications from diabetes at his western Maryland farm. The Friendsville resident was 61. Mr. Bratten, a Kentucky native who lost an arm and leg and suffered other injuries in a landmine explosion, spent years working on behalf of fellow veterans before Gov. Parris N. Glendening tapped him for the new Cabinet-level position in 1999.

James Howard "Pop" Watts, a retired truck driver who served in World War II and Korea, died Tuesday at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Baltimore of complications from a fall. The Lansdowne resident was 81. Mr. Watts was born and raised in Millville, Pa., and joined the Navy in 1942. He served as a frogman in Europe. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean conflict and served aboard the cruiser USS Salem. He was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3217 in Baltimore and American Legion Post 564 in Millville, Pa. Mr. Watts had lived in Buffalo, N.Y., and Williamsport, Pa., before moving to Lansdowne in 1986.

VETERANS WERE remembered in Manchester with an outdoor ceremony Sunday at the town memorial, which lists the 420 town residents who lost their lives in U.S. wars, beginning with World War I. About 60 people attended the event, which included music, speeches and presentations to the families of veterans. Army veteran Charles I. Miller served as master of ceremonies. LaVerne D'Alesandro of Kirkridge Presbyterian Church led group singing and performed solo. Boy Scout Troop 320 raised the flag.

In today's NBA, where a 22-year-old is as likely to have skipped college as to have completed it, a 27-year-old, seven-year veteran like Utah's Donyell Marshall is a virtual graybeard. But, in a locker room like Utah's, where players are so old that coach Jerry Sloan says jokingly, "We have to rest them before we come over here for the game. We can't afford to send them to breakfast because we might [tire] out on the way over there," Marshall is practically a "diaper dandy." Marshall, a 6-foot-9 forward in his first season in Utah, was reminded of just how young he is relative to his teammates during a December trip to New York.

If you are a member of the armed forces and served in Desert Storm, Panama, Grenada or Vietnam, the local chapters of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars are looking for you.Members of the two veterans groups are on a mission to increase flagging membership in their posts, both in Ellicott City."

The Hampstead War Memorial Committee is seeking veterans of foreign wars who are interested in having his or her name placed on a plaque at the Hampstead War Memorial. A copy of a veteran's discharge papers, Department of Defense Form DD-214 or other proof of military history is required.Families of veterans who were killed or are missing in action, as well as residents of Alesia, Carrollton, Finksburg, Hampstead, Lineboro, Manchester, Millers, Snydersburg and Upperco, are welcome to have their names placed on a new plaque.

Al Hernandez screens phone calls to his Ellicott City home these days because cancer surgery nearly destroyed a muscle in his right thigh two years ago and he tires of rushing, cane in hand, to grab the handset. Callers hear the Vietnam veteran's taped instructions about leaving a message, followed by a cheery "Semper Fi!" and a rousing recording of a few bars of the Marine Corps hymn. While his sign-off is the abbreviated form of semper fidelis, which is Latin for "always faithful," it would have been easy for the 58-year-old Marine to lose faith after a series of health setbacks left him unable to work and in considerable pain, he said.

CHICAGO -- Seventy old soldiers, most of whom already sport chests full of medals, have added a new one commemorating their part in World War I on the 75th anniversary of the end of the war.Under a tent on a parade field at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, Ill., Veterans Affairs Secretary Jesse Brown yesterday led a contingent of high-ranking admirals and generals in pinning the medals on the elderly veterans.In the sweltering late-summer heat, a Navy band played a muted version of "Over There," the war's signature song, as many in the crowd of 800 were moved to tears.

A DOZEN Mount Airy veterans are working with select veterans nationwide to promote Americanism while keeping the World War I traditions of the Forty & Eight.William Blatchley, Arthur Brett, Robert Callahan, Robert Dors, Philip Dorsey, Richard Hamilton, Douglas Henley, William Holley, Samuel Jewell, Charles Levy and Andrew Mason are members of Locale 155, a Forty & Eight unit with members in Carroll and Frederick counties.The Forty & Eight is an independent, fraternal veterans' organization named for the French railroad freight cars of the World War I era. It was started in Philadelphia in 1920 as the honor society of the American Legion.