War stories

WARWICK — The personal stories and reflections about their experiences ranged from humorous to horrific.

But although most admitted they would never want to do it again, no one expressed any bitterness and all said they were happy to have served their country.

On Sunday afternoon, Dec. 8, the Albert Wisner Public Library on McFarland Drive in the Village of Warwick held a Vietnam Vet meet-up and reception open to all veterans of that era and their friends and family members.

The library had recently set up a display case in its lower level honoring local veterans of the Vietnam War era with photos of the veterans at the time of their service as well as medals, memorabilia and stories.

After welcoming the large group of attendees and special guests Deputy Town Supervisor James Gerstner and Councilman Russ Kowal, Library Director Rosemary Cooper invited each of the veterans, if they so desired, to introduce themselves and say a few things about their military service.

Stories
Most had combat experience in Vietnam or Cambodia.

Roger Downs, for example, fought in the 506th Infantry's numerous campaigns and was wounded twice.

"I can't say I volunteered," he said. "They had to come and get me but I was happy to go."

Joe Krasniewicz, a retired airline pilot and a familiar figure at VFW Post 4662 events, flew the B57 Canberra in combat missions over Vietnam.

Steve Koopman began by saying that the military had a long standing "Sullivan Policy," named after the five Sullivan brothers who were killed in World War II when the ship, on which they all served, was sunk.

It became a military policy, he explained, to separate immediate family members but he and his brother Jay signed a waver so that they could serve together in the same unit.

"My brother was a medical corpsman, a very dangerous job with an average life expectancy in combat of five minutes," said Koopman. "They were not supposed to carry weapons but I gave him one and we covered each other's backs."

Forest Gump and Radar
Many of the veterans spoke about their military service in a lighter vein.

"I was in the Forest Gump group," said Gene Cleary, who used the famous motion picture reference to describe his own Company A. "I never want to do that again."

Ron Hennel explained the advantages of serving in the same clerk job that Radar O'Reilly had in the movie and television series MASH.

"Nobody messed with me," he laughed. "I could threaten to loose your records and you wouldn't be able to go on leave."

Some of the veterans had served in a support capacity.

Dr. Wayne Rossi was a jet mechanic on an aircraft carrier off the coast of Vietnam.

"I've always loved aviation," he said. "It was an honor to be on the USS Lexington."

Two who did not return
Two of the local Vietnam veterans who, sadly, did not return, but are honored in the library display, were Alan Bausch and Nicholas P. Lesando. Warwick's American Legion Post 214 is named after Lesando.

After a group photo the veterans and their families gathered together to enjoy refreshments and swap war stories.

Jean Claude's Bakery had donated a special cake for the occasion.

"When I mentioned to the owners of Jean Claude's that we were doing this," said Cooper, "they said, 'Please let us donate this cake. It will be our 'Thank You.'"

By Roger Gavan