PEF VETERANS


Vietnam veterans finally welcomed home


By DEBORAH A. MILES Thirty-nine years ago, U.S. combat


troops withdrew from South Vietnam. When the last units came home, there were no ticker-tape parades or people lining the streets waving American flags. Protesters against that war called the returning soldiers “losers” and “baby- killers.” Many of the soldiers denied ever having been to Vietnam. Public sentiment toward those


veterans has changed. It took a long time, but the U.S. Senate adopted a resolution in 2011 declaring March 30 “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” As a result, cities and towns throughout the country honored Vietnam veterans with ceremonies, music and picnics in March. Richard Fletcher, chair


FLETCHER


of the PEF Veterans Committee, said, “Our members who served in Vietnam now have a special day to be honored. March 30 was chosen, as it was the day the last American troops left Vietnam in 1973.”


PEF Executive Board


member for retirees Bob Harms served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a petty officer 3 in the U.S. Navy. “There was no reception


HARMS


when I got home,” Harms said. “I have mixed feelings about having this day. I’m happy it’s finally here, but


it is strange it took so long. Almost all the other groups of returning veterans were recognized by the public right away. Because of the time we were living in, and it was a bad political climate, we were not recognized at all.” PEF member Richard Heffron, a staff


advisor for veteran inmates at Auburn Correctional Facility and an offender rehabilitation coordinator, can relate to the bleak home coming for Vietnam veterans. He served in the 82nd Airborne Infantry Brigade. “I was not in Vietnam


as an infantryman. The ground troops and


HEFFRON


By DEBORAH A. MILES Increasingly, people are participating


in walks and runs to satisfy their quest for a physical challenge. Still others go beyond the norm and set their sights on completing one of the most difficult obstacle courses in the world. Two PEF members, Deborah Agudelo


and Matthew Alencherry, fit the latter group. They participated in the Tough Mudders Run for Wounded Warriors in November and completed a 12.09-mile race. They plowed through a dumpster filled with ice-cold water and ducked under plywood boards. They crawled under barbed wire in the mud, scaled 12- foot walls, and tackled 32 obstacles. The course was designed by two


Englishmen and was inspired by the training techniques used by the British Special Forces. By day, Agudelo and Alencherry are


claims services representatives at the state Insurance Fund in PEF Region 12, but they wanted to test their strength, stamina, mental grit and camaraderie. “Many of the obstacles cannot be


completed without the help of your team,” Agudelo said. “We had a team of seven people and felt a great sense of accomplishment when the entire team crossed the finish line together.”


Page 14—The Communicator May 2012 Alencherry said, along


with the high that comes after completing the course, the bonus is the good feeling, knowing the money raised goes to help wounded U.S. servicemen and women. “There’s a dual


reward when you finish Tough Mudders,” Alencherry said. Agudelo was a sergeant in the U.S.


Army National Guard as an aviation operations specialist. She did a tour in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom III, with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company Aviation Brigade 42nd Infantry Division. “This event was more meaningful because of the support it gives to the


PEF Information Line: 1-800-553-2445


NAILED IT—PEFmembers MatthewAlencherry and DeborahAgudelo complete a 32-obstacle course in themud November 12 in New Jersey to benefit wounded soldiers. —Photos byWilliam Yeh


fighting had ended. We were just backing out of the war. I was only there a couple of months to keep an eye on things being removed. Technically, I’m a Vietnam-era veteran and a Cold War veteran,” Heffron said. He feels a day of honor for Vietnam


veterans is a good thing, and remembers the sentiment in the country during that time was not positive. “What does my heart good now is the


welcome current vets receive when coming home from Iraq or Afghanistan. That’s a beautiful thing. That wasn’t there for a lot of Vietnam veterans. “Some people may feel it is too late.


That’s understandable because a lot of time has passed. A couple of years ago, the traveling Vietnam Memorial wall came to this area. I took my kids to see it. When we were leaving there, I was walking on a little bridge with my wife and kids. A gentleman walked past us, looked at me and said, ‘Welcome home.’ That brought a tear to my cheek. My kids asked, ‘What’s going on?’ I told them it was the first time anyone had ever said that to me,” Heffron said.


“Ain’t no mountain high enough” to stop PEF members


Wounded Warrior Project and fellow combat veterans,” Agudelo said. PEF Region 12 Coordinator Connie


Batts said this is just one example of how PEF members raise the bar for themselves. “The mental and physical stamina


needed to complete this gold standard of all mud runs is very impressive,” Batts said. “It’s not surprising they are members of PEF.”


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