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Upcoming Events
Sun. Feb. 5 – 1300hrs - 4 Chaplains Service, LeRoy United Methodist Church,
10 Trigon Park
Sat. Feb. 18 – 1300hrs – Chapter 193 Monthly meeting Glenn S. Loomis Post 332 Am.
Legion, 8960 Alexander Road (Rte. 98), Batavia
Sun. Feb 19 – 0800-1100 Breakfast – Perry Vets Club All you can eat $6/ under 12 free
Fri. Mar. 23-Sun. Mar. 25 - NY State Council, Owego
Mon. May 28 – 0700 – Memorial Day Ceremony, Genesee County Park
Fri. June 14 – Sun. June 16 - NY State Council, Owego
Fri. July 13 – Sun. July 15 – Oatka Fest, Duck Derby
For more than 15 years, Chapter 193 has sponsored two $500 scholarships through the Dana Fry Scholarship Fund each spring.
The scholarship is open to any person attending college as well as high school seniors. Having a veteran relative is helpful but not necessary.
“We aim not just at the top student but at those in state and community colleges who are trying to better themselves,” states Penny Robinson, committee chairman. “We are looking for people who have an interest not just in learning but an interest in our history as a country.”
“The main requirement is an essay about subjects from the Vietnam Era. The chapter would like to see more people research and understand all of the lessons learned as a result of the Vietnam experience.”
For more information and an application, interested students can contact the chapter at (585) 768-4410.
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Above all, Vietnam was a war that asked everything of a few, and nothing of most in America. - Myra MacPherson, 1984
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VVA Chapter 193 Scholarship winners chosen
The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 193 has selected the two $500 winners of the Dana Fry Scholarship for 2011. They are Kasey E. Thompson from and Laura Beth Yuhnke of Wyoming, a 2011 graduate of Pavilion Central School.
Kasey Thompson graduated from Oakfield in June of 2011 and will be pursuing a career in Criminal Justice at GCC. She is a 4H member, vice-president of the swine club and volunteers with the Alabama Fire Department.
Laura Beth was ranked third in her class at Pavilion, graduating in 2011, where she was a scholar athlete, SADD secretary, and member of the marching band. She will also continue her education at GCC.
“Both Kasey and Laura Beth exhibited a deep understanding of how the Vietnam War affected individuals and the country through their required essays. They took the extra steps to dig under the surface stories of that era. Those are the things we stress to all of the candidates,” stated Penny Robinson, Scholarship Committee chairman. “Hopefully they can carry that knowledge through their future studies and spread the information to their peers.”This is the first of the 2011 Dana Fry Scholarship winner’s essays. It is written by Kasey Thompson from Oakfield. Kasey graduated in June from Oakfield-Alabama Central School and she will be attending Genesee Community College to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice. Kasey is a volunteer with the Alabama Fire Department and a member of 4-H and vice-president of the swine club who shows and raises her own pigs.
Dana Fry Scholarship Essay – By Kasey Thompson
I believe that the Vietnam War hits close to home. I interviewed Clayton Fry my great uncle. Clayton joined the army in 1964, at the age of 19; he wanted to serve the country that he so much loves. He made his final decision to join the army because of a friend who had also joined along with him.
Clayton attended basic training in Fort Dicks, New Jersey where he was trained to become the best in the world. Mr. Fry and the men in his group from basic training had been locked up in rooms, unsure of what had been going on or might being coming up right around the corner, this was a scary time. I asked him if he basic training prepared him for War, he told me he was not prepared at all for, had no idea what he was headed for or the War he was about to be right in the middle of.
Mr. Fry was part of the 173rd Airborne ranking at E4. When Mr. Fry arrived at Vietnam in May 1965, after a 20 mile bus ride from Saigon, he had no emotion, this was his job as well as the other men, Clayton said "we all had a purpose, do or die don't ask why". Vietnam, has flat terrain, scrub brush, was hot, tropical like. The conditions that Clayton Fry had the hardest to deal with was the heat, in July temperatures could reach up to 108 degrees. The men Clayton served with were the best trained in the world. His job was the driver of a small track vehicle which was manned with 99mm.
While in Vietnam, Mr. Fry got to know some of the Vietnamese people, he said that they were very nice; he got to learn their cultures and languages. He had also said how pretty the area around him had been.
After 11 months 4 days he returned home from Vietnam unable to believe the newspapers, as it seemed as the media did not support the troops once they returned. They were not allowed to wear their uniforms, worried because of reactions from people. I can't imagine how the soldiers felt not being welcomed or thanked as we do for our troops in the present time. Clayton Fry was so happy to be home he kissed the ground. I asked Clayton if he had to do it all over again he said "absolutely". I am proud to say that my Uncle Clayton Fry served for this country.
After my interview with my great Uncle Clayton I got a better understanding on what the War experience was like for someone who experienced it firsthand. This interview gave me the insight of what soldiers had to go through and the emotions it left. After hearing the details of War I do not believe I could go through it. I give the men and women a great amount of respect for serving our country. I believe that the U.S. becoming involved in the Vietnam War was of great help to other countries keeping up on the upper side of many. The Vietnam War was a time of hardship, and people in today's world should give the men and women who served a great amount of respect.-------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the second of the 2011 Dana Fry Scholarship winning essays written by Laura Beth Yuhnke. Laura Beth, from Wyoming, graduated third in her class from Pavilion Central School in 2011and is continuing her studies at Genesee Community College. She is a long time member of 4H in addition to multiple school activities. She was a member and Secretary of SADD, active in the school band and chorus, ran cross-country track and was a member of the National Honor Society.
Dana Fry Scholarship Essay –Laura Beth Yuhnke
I was talking with my grandfather about eras he remembers and different experiences he had in war times. His service in the military ended after the Korean War. We were learning about the Vietnam War in my class at school, so I asked if he knew anyone that went to Vietnam and he knew that my Uncle Joseph Donohue was. My uncle was a Corporal, and later on a Sergeant, in the First Air Calvary, which he explained to me his job, and different equipment on board such as the M-60 or the Vulcan. He told me many stories about losing whiskey or making his pilot mad enough to almost leave him at a LZ for a mistake he made. In 1971, he was involved with bombing Laos, but thirteen weeks into his tour he was wounded and sent back with a Purple Heart. The more I look into the Vietnam War, the more fascinated I am by it. It's the only war that I can learn more and more and get stories after stories from veterans, but the reality of it never begins to fade, it’s always right there.
Recently, I have been researching POW camps, and more specifically the "Hanoi Hilton". I read so many articles written by or about officers that were in that camp. The treatment that the officers went through must be unimaginable, with the lack of food, the beatings, the torture and the pain. Prisoners of War weren't able to talk to each other, without consequences. Col. "Smitty" Harris, Freedom Flyer No.105 was a POW for 7 years. Before he was captured, he had heard about a system of communication used in World War II, a tap code that would tap out letters from one person to another. Harris started using the code around the camp, but no one could figure out what he was doing at first. The code used matrices with the alphabet, a five by five, by removing the letter 'K' and using 'C' in its place. If a prisoner wanted to tap out the letter 'a,' he'd tap three times, indicating the row, pause and tap four more times, indicating the letter. Eventually, the code caught on and it was used camp-wide. Indirectly, the code saved Harris' life. When he was suffering from nausea and dysentery, the other prisoners would use the code to get him food and water over the next six months.
Another interesting fact that caught my eye was that Arizona Senator John McCain spent five years as a Prisoner of War at the Hanoi Hilton. McCain was captured in October 26, 1967 after flying over North Vietnam on a bombing mission. His A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile. McCain fractured both arms and a leg from ejection from the aircraft. The North Vietnamese pulled him ashore from Truc Back Lake and then crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him. It was after that, that he was transported to the Hanoi Hilton. After two years in solitary confinement, the North Vietnamese offered McCain as an early release for the propaganda. I have the utmost respect for him for refusing the offer and demanding the Code of Conduct be correctly followed. Because of this, he received a program of severe torture, including rope bindings and regular beatings every two hours. He was finally sent home in March 1973. Because of the research and stories I have read on POW camps and the Hanoi Hilton, I now look at the POW/MIA flag with a new understanding.
Our class recently visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial of Greater Rochester in Highland Park. I thought it was a beautiful job that they did in create something to remember all those who paid the greatest sacrifice of all. Walking down the path and reading all the names and the high schools they graduated from, made me realize something. When you think of a war, you think about the casualties being people who are somewhere else in the country. However, I realized that war affect people close to me as well. It could have been a neighbor, a father, an older brother, a best buddy, a lover or even a graduating classmate.
-------------------------------------------------------------2012 Dana Fry Scholarship Fund Application
Send the completed application, essay and grades by June 16, 2012. Personal interviews may be required for applicants selected as finalists. Awards will be announced by July 21, 2012.
Click here to Download the 2012 PDF application
-------------------------------------------------------------Last Updated on 03-Feb-2012 9:25 AM
