Veterans groups ramp up activity
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

Marlborough - Veterans groups in Marlborough are ramping their efforts to help those who served in the armed services. More is being done than ever before, said John Manning, president of the Marlborough Veterans Council, an umbrella group of veterans associations in the city.

There are five nongovernmental veterans organizations active in Marlborough: the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), AMVETS, the Ital- ian-American War Veterans and Disabled American Veterans. Together they make up the council.

"The council is focusing on the needs this year more than they ever have. It's because there are so many people in need," Manning said. "It has nothing to do with the war; it's just that our veterans are getting older."

Manning said that the number of veterans going into nursing homes is increasing, and many more need help in their own houses as they age.

As part of this increase in activity, the veterans groups are organizing social events at two senior centers in Marlborough. For each of the last three months, groups have visited each center. The last event was a cookout June 24.

Veterans also visit other veterans in nursing homes.

"To see the faces on these guys at nursing homes. Unbelievable - they just light up when you come in," Manning said.

The group also fills requests.

"We go out and we buy them chocolate," Manning explained. "One needed pants; we go out and we buy them pants. Whatever they want, they get."

The Veterans Council is also developing a new award, called the Veteran of the Year award. It is the brainchild of State Rep. Stephen P. LeDuc, DMarlborough, according to Manning. The award honors the veteran who has helped his colleagues the most in the preceding year. The winner's name will be announced in November and he will receive a plaque. The first winner has already been selected, but the name will be withheld until November.

The veterans are also active in other areas. The organization provides services at funerals, with a color guard firing shots of farewell.

"We just did the 104th firing squad over the last year and a half," said Red Stearns, the former president of the council and member of the VFW.

Veterans groups, especially the Italian-American War Veterans and the American Legion, also send care packages to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The packages are filled with edible goodies and other things a deployed soldier might need.

The private groups work alongside the city's Department of Veterans Services, which has a dedicated veterans agent, Gary Brown, who serves on an ongoing basis to help people navigate the federal bureaucracy.

Many veterans need assistance figuring out which forms to fill out and send in.

"It can be a daunting task to face the federal government without an advocate," Brown said.

He said with thousands of veterans living in Marlborough, there is a constant need to tap into the Veterans Administration for help, both for benefits and medical assistance.

"It could be a member of a tank crew having hearing loss to paralysis," Brown said. "There's a myriad of different disabilities that could be caused by your service."

The veterans council has events ongoing throughout the summer. Besides the monthly visits to the nursing homes, another cookout was planned for July 15 and an ice cream social July 19.

Other types of events are planned as well.

"We may stir it up a little bit," Manning said. "We don't want to do the same thing every month we go down there."

The private veterans groups are skewed toward serving the veterans of previous wars, and have a low membership for people who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to Red Stearns, a former president of the Veterans Council. That may change in the future, he said.

"They're all young guys. They don't want to get involved in this kind of environment," Stearns explained. "As they get older they'll get more involved."