Delco veterans air concerns for today's soldiers

When veterans from Delaware County gathered yesterday for a town hall-style meeting with Max Cleland on service-related issues, concerns for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan topped the list.

Cleland, a decorated Vietnam veteran and a former U.S. senator from Georgia, spoke at Herbert W. Best Post 928 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Ridley Township.

"Of all the veterans' benefits that this country confers . . . the G.I. Bill is the best," said Cleland, who led the Veterans Administration under President Jimmy Carter. The G.I. Bill, which offers educational assistance and other benefits, "opens up your life whether you are disabled or not," he said.

In 1968, during the battle of Khe Sanh, Cleland reached for a grenade that had popped off a soldier's flak jacket. It exploded, shredding his legs and right arm. Cleland yesterday told of his own experiences with the bureaucracy of the VA health-care system.

Cleland, a Democrat, lost his Senate seat to Republican Saxby Chambliss in 2002. He now serves as secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission, which manages 24 overseas cemeteries where American troops from the two world wars are buried.

In his recent memoir Heart of a Patriot: How I Found the Courage to Survive Vietnam, Walter Reed and Karl Rove, Cleland wrote of how his own posttraumatic stress disorder "came roaring back" after his Senate loss.

He told those present to encourage younger veterans to take advantage of the G.I. Bill, which also includes the ability for active service members to transfer educational benefits to a spouse or child.

"That bill helped build our country," said Cleland. He noted that about 50 percent of returning World War II veterans and 60 percent of Vietnam veterans had used the bill's benefits.

There are about 23.4 million veterans, with 7.9 million Vietnam-era veterans making up the largest segment. Korean War-era veterans total about 2.3 million. There are more than 2.5 million World War II veterans, and about 900 die each day.

"For years, veterans have been neglected," said Tom Wizda, 81, a Korean War veteran from Sharon Hill, before the event began. He said that while soldiers are glorified when in the service, once they are out, they can be forgotten.

Homeless veterans were a primary concern for Tom McKelvey, 79, who served in the Army during the Korean War.

Jerry Gavin, 60, a combat medic during the Vietnam War, said he wanted to make sure recent veterans get the health care they need once they return to civilian life. Jobs are another issue, he said.

"The worst thing to happen to a vet is to be idle," said State Rep. Bryan Lentz (D., Delaware), a veteran of Iraq and the Bosnian conflict, who hosted the event at the post, where he is a life member.