For many veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan, there is often no rest from the battle for their lives. Instead of enemies in foreign fields, they must battle indifference, poverty, and personal demons as they seek normalcy and stability in their post-war world. The fight can often be a lonely road, but organizations like the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) are trying to ensure that newly minted veterans need not fight alone.
On Saturday, April 11, the Weehawken VFW Oulton-Kraft Post 1923 will host an open house luncheon for all veterans and their family members in the North Hudson area at their headquarters on Park Avenue, providing information on the many services and programs it and other veteran-focused organizations currently offer.
“Our goal is to help any veterans that are returning from any active duty or any war zone,” said Chuck Barone, the commander of Oulton-Kraft Post 1923 and a 35-year resident of Weehawken. “A lot of times, when these guys come home, they just fade into the woodwork, reluctant to ask questions unless somebody pushes them in the right direction.”
Though the death toll of the War on Terror is a fraction compared to past conflicts, said Barone, the level of physical and psychological damage among surviving veterans is higher than ever. “There’s a lot of people coming home that have serious problems,” he said. “I would think there’s more coming home today being dismembered than there was in the Vietnam War.”
Information clearinghouse
Barone said the VFW can guide veterans through the vast bureaucracy surrounding the benefits, job training, assistance, housing, and education available to them, much of it backed by the federal government.
The April event will also feature representatives from the Hudson County Office of Veterans Affairs and the North Hudson Community Action Corporation Veterans Advocacy Network. The NHCAC program in particular is a valuable resource, as it offers temporary financial assistance to veterans struggling to stay in housing and even administers an 18-unit apartment building in Union City just for homeless veterans and their families.
“Anybody who serves their country shouldn’t be looked upon as an outcast.” – Chuck Barone
____________
Barone once saw his own life improved through a Veterans Administration program that gave him on-the-job training while he worked as a firefighter with the North Hudson Fire Department after returning from Vietnam. He said he never would have learned about the assistance if not for another veteran working with him at the department.
Band of brothers and sisters
However, the VFW’s mission goes deeper than advertising services, offering an understanding and personal connection that can only be shared between veterans who have seen the truth of war. “We’re here if anyone wants to talk,” said Barone.
“When you come home,” he continued, “you don’t talk to your parents much about what your experiences were, you don’t talk to your friends because a lot of them don’t understand what you went through, so it’s much easier for them to speak to another vet that’s been through it and could possibly help them out.”
By reaching out to younger veterans, Barone is seeking in his own way to reverse the mistakes of the generation that withheld their welcomes when he and thousands of others returned from the Vietnam War (Barone enlisted in 1966 and served four years in the U.S. Army).
“A lot of Vietnam veterans, when they came home in the ’70s or late ’60s weren’t received as well from veterans’ groups, especially the VFW,” said Barone. “At the time, they didn’t recognize the Vietnam vets as being in a war. It was a police action, so that kind of turned a lot of veterans away from the organization.”
Overall, Barone said the response to soldiers returning from the Middle East has been better. “People realize that the Vietnam vets kind of got a raw deal,” he said. “Anybody who serves their country shouldn’t be looked upon as an outcast.”
Keeping VFW alive
Barone also hopes that some of the new veterans will join his post and keep the rapidly aging organization alive. Half of the Weehawken VFW’s 48 members are World War II veterans, leaving a dwindling reserve of Korea, Vietnam, and Gulf War vets to lead the group in future generations. Barone himself is already 67.
Oulton-Kraft Post 1923, which will greet its 85th anniversary this year, is one of just four VFW posts remaining in Hudson County. Former posts in Hoboken, West New York, and Union City have shuttered due to low membership, and the Weehawken outlet has tried to pick up the slack, opening its membership to any veteran in north Hudson County.
“We don’t want to see the extinction of this post,” said Barone.
The Weehawken VFW Post Open House Luncheon will take place on Saturday, April 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 309 Park Ave. in Weehawken. For more information, contact Chuck Barone at (201) 232-0766.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.