We need to give back to those who served
When I came home from my second tour in Vietnam I was asked if I wanted to reenlist and after saying that, no, I did not I was issued a clean dress uniform, given a 2-minute briefing from someone who represented the Veterans Administration, and sent on my way.
I went to work for the Geneva Free Press three days after landing in Cleveland.
I was fortunate in that I worked continuously from that day in October, 1969 until I retired in 2012.
But many of my fellow Vietnam veterans were never that lucky.
And many of the men and women we sent off to war after 9/11 haven't been either.
As a consequence, many of them - too many of them - wound up living on the streets in conditions that were worse than they'd lived in while serving their country.
I'm not going to rant here about ungrateful politicians who wear American flag lapel pins and gleefully send young men and women off to war then refuse to provide for them and their families when they return home.
What I am going to do is urge those of us who are fortunate enough to have a roof over our heads every night to think about these homeless veterans.
And, then, to find a way to help them.
There are many ways to support these men and women who swore the oath, put on the uniform and went where their country sent them without regard to their own safety.
For me, however, the best way seems to be to donate money to those organizations that are already in place, have a proven track record of helping veterans and are woefully underfunded.
That being the case, I'm donating 50 percent of the royalties that I earn between Nov. 20 and Dec. 31 from the sale of my novel 'The Third Servant' to an organization in Delaware and another in Florida.
I've guaranteed that the donation will be at least $1,000 to each organization regardless of how many books I sell during that time period. I, of course, hope it will be much larger than that but whether it is or not isn't the point, really.
The point is that these men and women deserve our support, not just our thanks or our prayers.
They deserve a safe place to lay their heads at night; a chance to eat good, healthy food and an opportunity to receive the counseling and training they need to return to society as productive human beings who can be justly proud of their service.
So, how about it?
Will you find a way to help out someone who, especially at this time of the year, deserves our support?
I hope so.
I went to work for the Geneva Free Press three days after landing in Cleveland.
I was fortunate in that I worked continuously from that day in October, 1969 until I retired in 2012.
But many of my fellow Vietnam veterans were never that lucky.
And many of the men and women we sent off to war after 9/11 haven't been either.
As a consequence, many of them - too many of them - wound up living on the streets in conditions that were worse than they'd lived in while serving their country.
I'm not going to rant here about ungrateful politicians who wear American flag lapel pins and gleefully send young men and women off to war then refuse to provide for them and their families when they return home.
What I am going to do is urge those of us who are fortunate enough to have a roof over our heads every night to think about these homeless veterans.
And, then, to find a way to help them.
There are many ways to support these men and women who swore the oath, put on the uniform and went where their country sent them without regard to their own safety.
For me, however, the best way seems to be to donate money to those organizations that are already in place, have a proven track record of helping veterans and are woefully underfunded.
That being the case, I'm donating 50 percent of the royalties that I earn between Nov. 20 and Dec. 31 from the sale of my novel 'The Third Servant' to an organization in Delaware and another in Florida.
I've guaranteed that the donation will be at least $1,000 to each organization regardless of how many books I sell during that time period. I, of course, hope it will be much larger than that but whether it is or not isn't the point, really.
The point is that these men and women deserve our support, not just our thanks or our prayers.
They deserve a safe place to lay their heads at night; a chance to eat good, healthy food and an opportunity to receive the counseling and training they need to return to society as productive human beings who can be justly proud of their service.
So, how about it?
Will you find a way to help out someone who, especially at this time of the year, deserves our support?
I hope so.
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