May 2016 Newsletter

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Veterans Remembered & Thanked

Rick enlisted in the Army in 1969, after graduating from Coquille High School. It was the height of the Vietnam War. He was 17-years-old, too young for the military draft lottery. Because he volunteered, he got to choose his job specialty as a journalist-photographer. Before year’s end, he was in a war zone documenting combat actions. As all soldiers do, he carried a rifle, and he had to use it defensively many times, when taking pictures no longer mattered. After a one year tour of duty, he completed his enlistment stateside as the editor of an Army base newspaper in Georgia. He regretted not reenlisting. A few months later, upon his request, the Army offered him the same classification of Specialist 5. He was assigned to an engineering battalion in California, then a public information team in Alaska. At that point, Rick said he was a staff sergeant, E-6, and could not go any higher in his specialty. He needed a combat arms position, so he chose armored cavalry. After completing an assignment in Kansas, he was transferred back to journalism at the embassy in Taiwan. Then he did a stint in Texas, back in an armored cavalry unit. When he received orders to Germany without dependents, he chose not to reenlist, remaining stateside with his wife. At the time his active duty ended in 1980, he joined the National Guard.

He goes to the annual Memorial Day service at the Roseburg National Cemetery in May. He said that various military groups are recognized. The VA chaplain does the invocation and benediction. Guest Speakers have included the director of the Roseburg VA, retired military personnel, politicians. He likes the brick buildings of the VA Campus. He said, “Its impressive, like being back on a military base; its like being home.”

But when the reminiscing is done, the reality of the negative effects of combat remain. Rick said, “I had PTSD (undiagnosed) and drinking since Vietnam. There was a culture of drinking, meetings in the NCO club. It affected my marriage and relationships in general.” He had a hard time finding a job with his Army skills, when he returned to Coos Bay. He said, “I was depressed and didn’t know why. I just thought there was something wrong with me.” He went back to school, tried various jobs, even owned part of a business. He especially liked working away from the city on farms, until an injury from repairing a tractor ended that. He said, “Nothing was working out. I just wanted to get away from people. I had nothing for coping. I had tried so many things and never had that feeling of achievement or success, that I just gave up and camped in the woods for a year. I finally got sick, flu, bronchitis, probably from exposure to the elements.” He stayed with his brother for a while. He took the VA van from Coos Bay to the Roseburg VA Health Services Center. In 2004, Rick was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He said, “I had never heard of PTSD before. They said, “I am typical of how it shows up in veterans. Its like a cancer; it takes time to spread. Rage builds up in them. Sometime in their fifties, they realize they need help and get it or end up dead.” Rick moved to the Roseburg Rescue Mission to receive treatment from the VA. He said, “At first, all I wanted to do was die. It was all I thought about during the day and at night. I felt like the ultimate failure at that point. I received medication and counseling at the VA.

Rick said, “This is the verse that turned me around and caused my life changes. When I read that, I knew that was me. This verse made me seek God. It told me that God did know where I was at in life, and that I needed to turn to Him. It helped me to join the Mission program and graduate. Then, I got married and moved out.” He continued his connection here by providing chapel services for a few years, sharing God’s word and the testimony of his own life.

In 2013, Rick returned to rent a room at the Mission, because it was all he could afford. He said, “I like it here. This is where I found God, or He found me. Its a safe place, and I know the people here.”

May we remember and thank all our country’s veterans this Memorial Day!