STRIPES/VETERANS

STRIPES Brevard Veterans News

Veterans spring to action after fire in North Brevard

You can always count on veterans helping other veterans whenever there is a need in Brevard County.

So, when a fire destroyed four homes and damaged several others in late May in Sharpes, a VFW Department of Florida Disaster Response and Recovery team sprang to action.

“There were veterans out there who lost cars and homes,” said Don Pearsall, who directed the team working with Titusville’s VFW Post 4228 Commander Nick Leon.

They set up their Quick Hit trailer at the Four Communities Fire Station on U.S. 1 in Sharpes, where supplies were distributed to help the veterans who sustained loss because of the fire. They also helped other victims of the fire, not just veterans, who were the priority.

Pearsall created the team in 2018 following Hurricane Michael’s destructive force that caused havoc in the Caribbean and parts of Florida. The Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Department of Florida named Pearsall director. He said the Disaster Response and Recovery trailer is always stocked and ready to respond within 15 minutes to disasters anywhere in Florida.

The team tested its response after Hurricane Dorian caused extensive damage to parts of the Bahamas in 2019, where many U.S. military veterans were living. Supplies were shipped on 11 flights following the storm.

Supplies stocked and ready in the trailer and in storage include medical supplies, first-aid kits, food, water, pet food, tarps and stoves. It also includes generators for veterans left without power but who require it to operate medical devices such as a CPAP or oxygenators.

The team also has a large cooker that can be used with gas, coal or wood that can serve food to the community with donated groceries from stores in affected areas.

“If we can do this in the Bahamas, we can do it here,” Pearsall said.

The team worked with the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center and the Florida Division of Emergency Management getting medical supplies, including masks, gowns and gloves to hospitals in Florida during the COVID pandemic.

The team spent a day and a half on site in Sharpes making sure they helped all those who needed it, especially the veterans. SL

The Fountains Four veterans join others for Honor Flight

BY MARIA SONNENBERG

Dawn was hours away from visiting, but that did not stop four residents from The Fountains of Melbourne to gather at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 11 at Wickham Park Senior Center, where the four veterans joined 26 others in the latest Space Coast Honor Flight.

Honor Flight celebrates veterans by hosting them for an expense-paid, whirlwind trip to visit the Washington, D.C. memorials to the wars in which they fought. It was a trip of a lifetime for the foursome, whose histories represent military service across four conflicts — from World War II to Desert Storm.

The elder veteran in the group was Charles Merserau, who served as a Navy engineer and diving officer from 1941 to 1946. Mersereau worked aboard the USS Parche, one of the most highly decorated boats in the Pacific Submarine Force. It’s conning tower is on display at the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park in Pearl Harbor.

Mersereau helped the Navy, and the Navy helped him. With the aid of the GI Bill, he earned his degree in mechanical engineering. He worked at Pacific Gas and Electric in California before retiring at 55 to become a property developer in Missouri.

“It was valuable to get my college degree through the service,” he said.

Unlike Mersereau, who spent his military service in the water, Fountains neighbor Al Rollins was on dry land, in Korea, to be exact, serving as an expert rifleman from 1952 to 1955.

From rifleman, Rollins pivoted to weatherman, serving the Eastern Test Range for 16 years before signing on with the City of Cocoa to teach computer skills to employees. Oh, yes, he also purchased a Cocoa motel, renovated it and operated for a dozen years.

Since Honor Flights include an official photographer, Rollins didn’t need to take pictures of his Washington trip, but he could most certainly have done so, since the versatile veteran is also a talented, self-taught photographer.

Honor Flight provided a chance to revisit monuments he remembers from visits years ago.

“I wanted to see them again,” he said.

Both Rollins’ Fountains fellow veterans Jim Herndon and Karen Cathcart served their country during the Vietnam

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SENIOR LIFE Courtesy of The Fountains

Veterans Charles Merserau, James C. Herndon, Albert A. Rollins and Karen Cathcart joined others for a Space Coast Honor Flight, an expense-paid trip to Washington D.C. to visit memorials to the wars they fought.

SENIOR LIFE Courtesy of The Fountains

The Fountains of Melbourne honored Karen Cathcart, James C. Herndon, Charles Merserau and Albert A. Rollins during the Space Coast Honor Flight.

War. From 1965 to 1999, Herndon was with the Navy Reserve.

Depending on how you consider it, he is either an expert at retirement or a failure, since the former Harris architectural designer, North Carolina home flipper, and facilities manager for the Florida Department of Health and Human Services has retired three times.

Honor Flight holds a special place in his heart.

“My father went on Honor Flight and I want to walk in his footsteps,” he said.

Karen Cathcart’s military service spans both Vietnam and Desert Storm and encompasses both the Air Force and the Army.

The former Philadelphian who moved to California and joined the Air Force at 18 served from 1964 to 1967, but that was just the start of a long career.

“The U.S. called me back in 1972,” said Cathcart, who was master sergeant in administration, personnel and recruitment until her retirement in 1997.

“I wanted to do my duty for my country,” she said. SL

BY ERNEST ARICO

The Vietnam War was one of the most significant events in United States history. More than 50,000 U.S. servicemen lost their lives during the struggle in Southeast Asia.

The tensions it created and the passions it unleashed threatened to tear the fabric of U.S. society apart. The pernicious effect of the war on the U.S. Armed Forces would leave their reputation tarnished and sap their confidence, damage that would take years to repair.

For Lewis Smith of Merritt Island, it’s taken more than 30 years to recognize, understand and come to grips with the horrors of what happened during his military service in the jungles of Vietnam.

In response to honor those he served with in Vietnam, Smith and his wife, Regine, began publishing a digital newsletter in 2009 for Vietnam veterans of the 2nd Battalion of the 173rd Airborne Brigade and their families.

Today, the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Sky Soldiers) is the U.S. Army’s Contingency Response Force in Europe. Based in Italy and Germany, the brigade routinely trains alongside NATO allies and partners to build interoperability and strengthen the Alliance.

“The original intent of the newsletter was to capture our men’s stories and photos which might otherwise one day go missing,” said the 74-year-old Smith. “Over time, however, it grew well beyond that, and has become somewhat of a unit historical record.”

Smith said the bi-monthly newsletter has brought veterans together, many who haven’t seen each other since the war, but more importantly, the publication has allowed surviving families to connect with friends of their fallen service members.

“Reggie and I have been fortunate to lend a hand, and our guest bedrooms on many occasions, to vets suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and helping them find treatment while pursuing their VA claims benefits,” Smith said. “None of our efforts involve compensation of any kind — having served with many of these warriors is the greatest reward of all.”

Smith said he creates the 50- to 100-page digital Sky Soldier newsletter using a basic Word program, which he later converts to a PDF file for distribution. The newsletter is distributed free to more than 2,000 veterans and their families. There is no advertising on the newsletter and the couple will not accept donations.

“I’m happy with the reception the newsletter’s received,” Smith said. “I feel a certain obligation to the men I served with. It was an honor to serve with them. The newsletter gives me a great deal of satisfaction.”

Retired U.S. Army Col. Robert Warfield recently sent Smith an email, praising him and his recent newsletter’s dedication to retired Col. George E. Dexter, the former commander of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment in Vietnam and Okinawa, who passed away in June 2020.

“I don’t know how you do it. I simply cannot get through every commemoration you manage to find, organize and post to remembrance,” Warfield wrote. “This is special for Col. George Dexter. He would be pleased, as we are grateful for our service opportunity under caring commanders, bent to foster careers and to care for their troops and families. Altogether, your periodic missives over the years must constitute a chronicle virtually unique in the annals of unit remembrance, documentation and historical reflection.”

Born in Oneida, New York, Smith wanted to be a paratrooper like his two older brothers. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1965, becoming a member of the 101st Airborne.

“I was greatly influenced by them,” Smith said.

In May 1965, Smith was part of the first Army ground combat unit to fight in Vietnam.

While serving in Vietnam, Smith participated in Operation Silver City in Biên Hòa Province, lasting from March 7 to 23, 1966.

Operation Silver City was planned as a sweep of the southwestern sector of War Zone D by the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. The goal of the operation was to destroy the headquarters of the B2 Front’s Military Region 1, a five-province area east and north of Saigon, and to engage the five major units currently under its command: the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) 9th Division’s 271st and 273rd Regiments; the Viet Cong 5th Division’s 274th and 275th Regiments; and the 308th Main Force Battalion, totaling almost 9,000 soldiers.

During that battle, Smith suffered a minor leg wound and later received

SENIOR LIFE Courtesy of Lewis Smith

Lewis Smith served in Vietnam in 1966.

SENIOR LIFE Courtesy of Lewis Smith

Lewis and Regine Smith have been working on their digital newsletter in their Merritt Island home since 2009.

VETERAN

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