Local veterans will join the country in observing Veterans Day, a time to honor war heroes.
By: Lauren Burgoon
There is a popular refrain in this country that "freedom isn’t free." No one knows that better than current and former soldiers who left their families and the comfort of home to fight in conflicts overseas.
Local veterans will join the country in observing Veterans Day today (Thursday). For these men, who all encountered different wars and experiences, today is a moment to appreciate the many sacrifices that soldiers make when they are called to serve the country.
Millstone resident Rick Brody, 56, has been heavily involved in veterans’ affairs for nearly 20 years. He is the chairman of Millstone’s Veterans Memorial Council and participates in several drives to benefit active duty soldiers and veterans. Recently he has been promoting a package service for overseas soldiers that provides toiletries, candy, magazines and other small comforts for those deployed.
Veterans Day is a meaningful event for Mr. Brody. He said it’s good that America sets aside a special day to remember the sacrifices that soldiers from all wars and even peace time make to defend the country. There are also sacrifices on the part of families left behind that should be honored, he added.
"There is a lot of hardship on the soldiers and their families," Mr. Brody said, noting that military pay is not great and soldiers in the reserves have it even worse because they lose their civilian paychecks after going on active duty.
Veterans often pay for their service years after their discharge, Mr. Brody said. He knows of several men from conflicts spanning World War II to the current war in Iraq who come back with disabilities or mental problems. Seeing the needs of these veterans prompted Mr. Brody to get involved with veterans’ affairs and lecture in local schools about what it means to be a soldier and a veteran.
Mr. Brody’s own military experience spanned four years during the Vietnam War. He enlisted in the Army in 1968 after learning that he would be drafted. Mr. Brody said he made the decision because enlisting would give him more options about where he served.
"I knew I would have more choices about my type of training," Mr. Brody said. "I didn’t think being in an infantry would be of any help in my career. I decided to take whatever educational opportunities the Army had to offer."
Although the Vietnam War was raging, Mr. Brody was not sent to that country. Instead he spent his first years of service in New Jersey and Texas training and was transferred to Minnesota to an air missile defense site. His battalion was there to guard against a nuclear attack from Russia. It was there that Mr. Brody experienced the first protest against his unit’s work from nearby college students.
"Here we are in U.S. uniforms, soldiers defending the country and there are students outside the gate protesting us," Mr. Brody said. "Certainly it bothered us."
Soon after Mr. Brody was sent to South Korea because tensions were heating up along the demilitarized zone. His unit lived on the fringe of a grass hut village without electricity and plumbing. More stories of protests in the U.S. kept arriving.
"We got the news stories and everyone couldn’t understand why the civilians back home were protesting us… I, like a lot of older soldiers, was spit on when I came back in uniform," he said. "I don’t think anyone understood why."
The tide has turned in this country now, Mr. Brody said. He said he believes Americans, even those who disagree with the war, show a great deal of respect to soldiers and their families. Millstone especially, he said, has been very supportive of drives to benefit soldiers.
But more is needed. Mr. Brody said veterans’ services should be more comprehensive in New Jersey to help those who served. Certainly the state will face an influx of veterans from the Iraq war in the coming years. New Jersey soldiers are one of the largest numbers of troops sent over to Iraq.
One of them is Maj. Angelo Capolupo. The Manalapan resident and founder of a drive for Iraqi children supported by Millstone residents is the commander of the 50th Finance Battalion, a National Guard Unit based in Flemington. Maj. Capolupo was deployed to Iraq in February for an expected yearlong mission.
In an e-mail to Messenger-Press last week Maj. Capolupo, 41, recounted his experiences during war. He stressed that his thoughts are based only on what he does and sees and not indicative of the situation throughout Iraq.
This Veterans Day Maj. Capolupo and his unit plan to say a prayer for all veterans, who he wrote are "very special people cut from a special mold, dedicated to the freedoms we all enjoy." He agreed that Americans respect soldiers even if they don’t agree with the circumstances.
Maj. Capolupo was an active duty enlistee for four years before joining the National Guard in 1985.
"I have chosen to dedicate my life to the military because I believe it is why America exists and why we have the freedoms we have today," he wrote. "I enjoy those freedoms but it gives me great joy to see others enjoy those freedoms as well."
Maj. Capolupo said that his military experience is a way of life that complements his value system and he does not consider it a series of deployments or something that he has to sacrifice for. The real sacrifice, and one that should be remembered this Veterans Day along with the soldiers, is made by families who stay at home, Maj. Capolupo said.
This Veterans Day the debate will continue to rage over whether America should be involved in Iraq. But Maj. Capolupo said most Americans are not getting the full story from the media.
"The biggest myth in my opinion is that the news tends to make blanket statements about Iraqis not wanting us here," he wrote. "It is a very small minority they are referring to."