Friday was the holiday set aside each year to honor veterans for their service. But the care needed by many of them extends beyond a single day — and the Gazette published several stories on Veterans Day reflecting how they are served and recognized in the Valley.
The help may come from the government — for example, a bed in the new $5.8 million Community Living Center at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds. Or it may be as simple as a thank you coming from a 10-year-old boy.
There were an estimated 19.3 million veterans in the United States in 2014, the latest year for which data is available. Many need medical care, and of particular concern is the risk of suicide. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, an average of 20 veterans killed themselves each day in 2014.
That tragedy is more than just a statistic for the people who loved Mathew Vieu, a graduate of Granby High School who was a lance corporal in the Marine Corps and served two tours in Iraq. When he received an honorable discharge in 2012 instead of going back to Iraq, Vieu was heartbroken, according to his older sister, Crystal Dufresne.
Vieu, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, took his life on Aug. 28, 2015. He was 30.
His relatives and friends in January established The Mathew J. Vieu Memorial Fund Inc. to help veterans in the Granby-South Hadley area, with whatever they need — buying a wheelchair, or helping to pay rent, for example — said Steve Nally of Granby, who regarded Vieu as a son.
But one obstacle is identifying veterans who need that assistance. “Someone said they are a proud bunch, certainly, and they are reluctant to ask for help when they need it,” Nally said.
More information is available online at www.mjvm.org or on The Mathew J. Vieu Memorial Fund Facebook page.
The epidemic of veterans’ suicides is being addressed by the Northampton Revolver Club with money raised at its turkey shoots which start at 11 a.m. Sundays. The last is Nov. 20 at the club at 519 Ryan Road in Florence. Turkeys are not shot; rather, participants pay to use shotguns to shoot at targets, with prizes going to the most accurate.
So far, more than $1,000 has been raised, money that will be donated to the Aiming for Zero program of Active Heroes, which aids veterans and their families in coping with post-traumatic stress in trying to prevent suicides.
But not only adults with professional training can make a difference in the lives of veterans, as Jeffrey Szulc of Agawam has discovered at age 10. He was taught by his late grandfather, who served in the U.S. Navy, to always thank a veteran.
Jeffrey has taken that lesson seriously since the summer when he walked up to a veteran at Stop & Shop and said, “Sir, thank you for your service.” He later told his mother, Genevieve, “Mom, thanking that veteran made me feel so good; it just felt so good to do that.”
Jeffrey since has met veterans at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, military appreciation days at the Three County Fair in Northampton and The Big E, and at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield and Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee.
By Saturday, he expects to have more than 1,000 signatures in his black book where he records each veteran’s military branch and years of service.
On Thursday, officials gathered at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds to dedicate the renovated Community Living Center, which provides rooms and medical care for up to 70 veterans.
Among those who spoke was U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, who said that on Veterans Day “politicians get up and they say ‘thank you,’ … but our veterans need more than just words. They need investments and actions.”
True enough. Jeffrey Szulc and the people behind The Mathew Vieu Memorial Fund and the Northampton Revolver Club are standard-bearers for taking action that makes a difference.