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Upcoming Events
Sat. July, 3 – 1900hrs — Warsaw Parade
Sat. July, 10 – 1530hrs — Alexander Parade
Fri. July 16 –1700hrs Oatka Fest tent setup – Creekbank
Sat. July 17–1100hrs Oatka Fest Parade
1200-1700hrs — Duck ticket sales after the parade
Sun. July 18 – 0800 Community Fishing Derby – LeRoy - Duck ticket sales all day
1700hrs – 21st annual VVA Duck Derby
Wed. July 21–1830hrs – Genesee County Fair Parade
Fri. Aug, 6 – 1900hrs — Elba Parade
Sat. Aug 21–1300hrs – Annual VVA Picnic – Genesee County Park
Thur. Nov, 11 – Veterns Day Ceremony —Genesse County Park
Sat. Nov 13 – LeRoy Am. Legion Harvest Dinner
Sat. Nov, 20 – Veterans Honor Night —LeRoy Moose Family Center
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------VVA Chapter 193 Scholarship winners chosen
VVA Chapter 193 of LeRoy announced the winners of the 2009 Dana Fry Scholarships. The recipients of the $500 awards were Jessica L. George from Churchville and Rebecca L. Stauber from LeRoy.
Jessica graduated in 2009 from Byron-Bergen High School and will be attending SUNY Brockport this Fall. She will be majoring in Special Education and Health Science. Along with her academic and sports achievements, Jessica also found time to volunteer at the VA hospital in Batavia. Rebecca was a 2009 graduate of Pavilion Central School who will be heading to Purdue University to study Biomedical Engineering. She participated in leadership programs, Cross Country Track and cheerleading as well as her work with SADD and the Girls Service League.
All applicants for the scholarship were required to submit an essay on a subject from the Vietnam Era. Chapter 193 continues to try to foster education about the truths of the Vietnam Era and is encouraged that so many young people are researching and becoming knowledgeable about the period. Here is the first of the winners’ essays. The second will be published in October.
Dana Fry Scholarship Essay – By Jessica L. George
It is with great honor and pleasure that I apply for the Dana Fry Scholarship. Throughout my senior year, I have worked with and volunteered with war veterans including those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Currently I am enrolled in the BOCES Health Careers Academy and our class location is at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Batavia, NY. For this reason, I am literally learning and visiting with the veterans each and every day. Although I have limited contact with those war veterans who have PTSD, a few of which have been in the Vietnam War, I have been able to experience their lives in a way that is unique in itself.
The reason that these patients are in the VA Hospital is that they need support and care other than their own and they are veterans who have served our magnificent country of the United States. Their wounds, both external and internal can be seen in the way that they act and communicate, or the lack of. Since these veterans served our country, I am now serving them and giving as much tangible thanks and silent gratitude as I can through volunteering. Those who have PTSD don't have to say a word; there underlying emotions can be portrayed louder than any words. Their silence speaks volumes. These veterans sacrificed their lives, hopes, and dreams for those of others.
The selflessness of the VA residents and the PTSD war veterans can be sensed through interactions with them. They are gentle and giving people. Some are easily spooked, while others react without any hindrance, yet there are those who have emotional numbness. If they do speak, they use soft spoken words with a gentle ambience. Those with PTSD don't talk about their past even though that is what made them feel the way that they do.
Volunteering and talking with the veterans has broadened my sense on the turmoil of war and the aspects of survival. The information I have learned on comrades lost, situations rapidly changing, and emotional change sparks an interest in me even more. Helping the VA veterans aides not only them emotionally, but also me. I have learned the history and the work it took so that America is truly the free. The lessons I have learned cannot be found in any textbook. These war veterans are a part of history; they are the living, breathing remnants that continue to observe the changing world and remember the concrete past.
All war veterans with PTSD need immense support. It is our responsibility to help them re-enter civilian life. As Jose Narosky stated, "In war, there are no unwounded soldiers." With the current research and statistics, this need is more necessary than ever.
-------------------------------------------------------------Dana Fry Scholarship Essay – by Rebecca Stauber of LeRoy.
"The monsoons ... I'll never forget the monsoons ... " My uncle responded to my question about his most profound memory of the Vietnam War. With so much rain, the uniforms they wore physically rotted off of their bodies. He volunteered for the service fresh out of high school because he knew he was going to end up being drafted. This would ensure he was able to be in the Marine Corp rather then the Army. Against his family's wishes, he set off for Paris Island, South Carolina for basic training. He brought nothing of sentimental value with him or anything that reminded him of home. This was because he had no idea what he was up against in his time to come and he wanted anything of importance to him to be safeguarded at home with his family.
In July 1966, my Uncle Bill was stationed on the Cuinin Island Providence, near New Guinea. Here, he was an infantryman and performed search and destroy missions for his country. When I asked if he had ever lost anyone close to him, he responded with two simple words. "Too many." He then proceeded to tell me about his experience visiting the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. He told me that while in the war, they used only nicknames for each other, so he didn't know any of his former peers real names. For example, the man who scouted out the land was referred to as "Scout." Because of this, he couldn't find the names of the men he spent those many months with, even though he knew they were on the wall somewhere. Even though you don't remember who they are, you miss the people you were there with and it kills you to have no idea what their fate was.
While you are over there, it is apparently impossible to relieve stress and to give yourself comfort. Doing this would have been letting your guard down which would make you vulnerable. The only thing that kept you going every day was staying alive; and that was a hard thing to do. When you were at the base camp however, they were able to play
basketball which was the only "fun" he had while in the war. This didn't happen very often, as he was in the fields the majority of the time and didn't see the base camp for three to four months at a time. His only living accommodations were a fox hole in the jungle, not even a sleeping bag. Also, he was able to go on rest and retreats. My uncle was able to go to Bangkok and Hong Kong while in the war, each for five days.
In May of 1967, one of the scariest things happened to my uncle. He was on a seek and destroy mission, patrolling, when the platoon engaged the enemy. He went to support them, but was ambushed. He was shot in the shoulder. He waited for three days to get to the hospital for because they couldn't get a helicopter in to help with all of the hard fighting. Instead, in the field, he was treated by a medic who bandaged his wound and gave him shots of morphine while waiting. When the helicopter finally arrived, he had surgery performed on a ship while on the way to a Naval Hospital in Tokyo. After that, he was sent to the Philadelphia Naval Hospital where he received physical therapy and rehab. This interrupted his career plans immensely. Before the war, he had signed a contract with a professional baseball team, but after he was shot, they told him he didn't have enough strength in his shoulder to play, so they released him.
In 1970, he went back into the war. He told me about some of the things that he witnessed that truly had an impact on him. He once saw a soldier throw himself on a grenade that landed next to a group of men. It was the most heroic and selfless thing he had ever witnessed. Along with the selfless and heroic things, came the horrible things. He saw what would happen to the Vietnamese people and families that tried to help the Americans. The consequences they had to face for helping the United States were to horrid to tell me.
In July of 1971, he came back to the United States. This experience itself was dreadful. "They hated us," he said, "They called us baby killers and spat at us." This was not unusual. Many Vietnam soldiers returning to the United States experienced some form of hatred. They were also stereotyped as drug addicts and violence seekers. He told me the hardest thing to adjust to coming back to the United States was the protest for the war.
Because of these protests, many of the veterans still have deep emotional scars. They were treated as social outcasts and ended up homeless, many of which still have this fate. The many Anti-war actions have no doubt caused even more suffering to the brave soldiers who fought against communism in the war.
Even so, my Uncle Bill pushed is a tough man and pushed through it. I then asked him what the first thing he wanted to do when he got home was. He told me he really wanted a hamburger and he did have it. It didn't taste as good as he hoped it would though. He thought this was because of all of the sea rations he had while fighting in the war. He only had canned food like ham and beans, beef stew, etc. Sometimes they were able to get crackers and cheese, and on occasioneven pound cake.
As a kid straight out of high school, my Uncle Bill was forced to grow up and mature very quickly. He lost not only his youth, but his future career. I asked if he thought it was worth it. If he believed in what he was fighting for. He told me he couldn't even remember what he thought before he entered, but when he got out of boot camp he did. You believed anything the Marine Corp told you to believe! My final question for him was if he regretted anything that happened while overseas. He told me he had done many things that he would never allow to be written down on paper, or even admit to. My Uncle Bill is truly a hero in my eyes. I look up to him for all that he has done and gone through for our beautiful country. I know in my heart that even though he had a few rough years of life here on earth, he will be welcomed in heaven where he
will justly be rewarded for his heroic actions.
-------------------------------------------------------------2010 Dana Fry Scholarship Fund Application
Send the completed application, essay and grades by June 20, 2010. Personal interviews may be required for applicants selected as finalists. Awards will be announced by August 1, 2010.
Click here to Download the 2010 PDF application
-------------------------------------------------------------Last Updated on 30-Jun-2010 11:15 AM
