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STRIPES/VETERANS
STRIPES Brevard Veterans News
JROTC cadets give a day to maintain historic cemetery
What a lesson in service for a group of young people already committed and used to serving others — helping to maintain a cemetery where veterans are buried.
The JROTC cadets from Viera High School spent a recent Saturday morning cleaning, cutting bushes and making sure the cemetery was in good order.
The cadets, along with others — the American Legion Post 191, Leonard Ross and other community leaders and groups — joined in the work at the J. N. Tucker Memorial Shady Oaks Cemetery.
There are about 35 veterans buried in the cemetery that was established in the early 1900s.
I know there might be many other who participated in this most recent cleanup and maintenance of the cemetery and some before, but I wanted to tell you specifically about these Junior Reserve Officer Training cadets from Viera High School.
They deserve your recognition because not many would want to give up a day off from school to work in a cemetery. They could be out doing something else with their Saturday.
“They love doing it,” said retired Army Lt. Col. Tim Thomas, the senior JROTC instructor. “They are making these cemeteries aesthetically better to honor the veterans buried there.”
Thomas said it is the type of work that builds intangible values that we look for in leaders — empathy and compassion.
If you travel on U.S. 1 south of Post Road, you have passed the cemetery that once was in bad shape with overgrown weeds and growing neglect.
After the condition of the cemetery was brought to the attention of former San Diego Chargers fullback, Bruce Rothschild, the sprucing up began. Rothschild established Veteran Cemetery Restoration to take care of Shady Oaks and J. S. Stone Memorial Cemetery in Melbourne, both over 100 years old. He said that through the years he has learned a lot about the history of some of the people buried there.
About 85 people, including the cadets, showed up to the workday at Shady Oaks Cemetery.
“We had some wonderful volunteers,” Rothschild said. “We really like to engage the younger crowd. I like to tell them the history.”
Shady Oaks was established by African American settlers in the early 1900s. Stone also was established by African American pioneers in the early 1900s.
Veterans Cemetery Restorations, a nonprofit organization created to maintain the two cemeteries, conducts periodic cleanups and maintenance of the gravesites. SL
Caring, tech savvy volunteer provides valuable help at veterans center
BY MARIA SONNENBERG
Joe Davie is that perfect combination of technological savvy and a caring heart — an amalgam that endears him to his fellow volunteers at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center.
“Joe always is cordial, compassionate and patient when interacting with our local heroes,” said Paul Julian, who serves on the VMC board of directors and works with Davie in the Veterans’ History Project, a compilation of the life stories of local veterans.
—Paul Julian
The histories Davie and Julian record through interviews with veterans are posted on YouTube and submitted to the Library of Congress. Each of the 50 plus veterans the two have interviewed also received a DVD of the interview to share with family. For family members, these DVDs often serve as a revelation of the sacrifices their loved ones made.
In addition to being caring and empathetic, Davie has an impressive background in technology, making him a most important volunteer at the VMC.
“He is the only person in our VMC team having the technical expertise to produce the final media which meets the Library of Congress’ guidelines,” Julian added.
Davie joined the VMC volunteer corps five years ago. In addition to his work with the History Project, he is the organization’s librarian, tasked with keeping tabs on more than 4,500 volumes on U.S. military history and overseeing a dozen volunteers.
Davie’s own story begins in Virginia, but quickly shifts to Florida after his family moved to Miami when he was two years old.
“I consider myself a Floridian,” he
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Joe Davie began his military career at Lackland Air Force Base. said.
High school in Jupiter was followed by enlistment in the Air Force in 1965. Davie was fortunate that although he enlisted during the buildup of the Vietnam War, his deployments were to Japan and Korea. His interest in electronics landed him duties with missile guidance.
By 1968, he was out of the service, but despite the short length of military career, he feels a particular kinship with veterans.
“I feel I have a lot in common with them,” said the Rockledge resident.
Davie enrolled at the University of Vermont to earn his bachelor’s degree, thanks to the G.I. Bill. Working parttime in electronics helped to pay for his apartment in Burlington.
Living next door was Beth, who was to become his wife and mother of his two children.
Throughout a varied career that included everything from managing an auto parts store to being the go-to techie for Brevard Community College’s Palm Bay and Cocoa campuses, Davie kept
SENIOR LIFE Courtesy of Joe Davie
Joe Davie keeps tabs on more than 4,500 volumes of U.S. military history and oversees a dozen volunteers. sight of the perfect job. “My dream was to go work for NASA,” he said. The dream came true when he was hired to provide IT services for one of the subcontractors at the Kennedy Space Center. After 11 years in that position, he retired, but rapidly connected with the Veterans Memorial Center. He spends two full days per week at the VMC library, recently joined the Center’s board of directors and is part of the Brevard Veterans Council, which supports the welfare of local veterans and their families. At the VMC, he has forged a reputation for caring. “I have not met a more professional, hard-working and dedicated person than Joe,” Julian said. SL
BY MIKE GAFFEY
On National Purple Heart Day, Brevard County Chapter 435 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart continued its five-year-old tradition of honoring local U.S. veterans who have received the medal, sharing the stories of 10 heroes killed or wounded in combat.
“Without veterans, there is no America,” Donn Weaver, the president of the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center, said to applause from about 150 people at the center at 400 S. Sykes Creek Parkway on Merritt Island.
Created in 1782 by then-Gen. George Washington and originally called the Badge of Military Merit, the Purple Heart has been awarded to more than two million service members — 400,000 of them posthumously — since the decoration was revived in 1932. National Purple Heart Day is observed on August 7.
SENIOR LIFE Mike Gaffey
U.S. Rep. Bill Posey attends a ceremony honoring 10 local Purple Heart recipients. combat mission near Tien Phouc, Vietnam. The crew was reported missing in action and later declared dead. Remains identified as Crosby’s were recovered years after the crash and interred during a well-attended service at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. in 2007.
“The military explained that the reason was because the helicopter crashed while returning from combat, not while it was in combat, yet finding no evidence of the helicopter or crew to verify anything,” Wade said of the reason for the decades-long delay.
Crosby’s return to American soil also inspired family and friends to start the Crosby Army ROTC Scholarship at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.
“Herby would have been in awe of everything that has happened,” said Wade, who still receives calls from people who have a POW/MIA bracelet with Crosby’s name on it and want to send it to the family. “He has brought family, friends, comrades and strangers together in ways so touching and lifechanging even after 37 years of being declared missing in action in Vietnam.”
Some 21 veterans also received handmade Quilts of Valor during the ceremony. More than 300,000 of the quilts have been distributed to military personnel nationwide, said Karmel Sowers, the group leader of the local Quilts of Valor chapter.
“This quilt is an expression of gratitude meant to thank and comfort you,” Sowers said. “We consider it a privilege to honor you.” SL
SENIOR LIFE Mike Gaffey
Marylou Wade, the sister of Army Capt. Herbert “Herby” C. Crosby, talks about her late brother while Donn Weaver, president of the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center, holds a photo of Crosby during an August 7 ceremony.
SENIOR LIFE Mike Gaffey
Engraved bricks, with each honoree’s name, were on display and will be placed around a Purple Heart monument at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center on Merritt Island.
This year’s honorees were Army Capt. Herbert “Herby” C. Crosby, former Army Staff Sgt. Paul Abel, former Marine Cpl. Ben Bydalek, former U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Richard Ferry, Howard Gentry, Robert Grant, Thomas Ray Gruno, Lance Johnson, Robert Blanchard and former Army Spc. Keith Van Buren.
A Chapter 435 member introduced each honoree and some family members added personal memories. Engraved brick pavers with each honoree’s name were on display and will be placed around a Purple Heart monument at the veterans center.
Crosby’s sister Marylou Wade told the crowd that her family waited 43 years to receive a Purple Heart for her brother after his helicopter gunship crashed in January 1970 during a
SENIOR LIFE Mike Gaffey
Veteran Paul Abel is wrapped in a Quilt of Valor during a ceremony at the Brevard Veterans Memorial Center.
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BY R. NORMAN MOODY
A visit to a Vietnam War exhibit in Melbourne and a talk with Ben Bydalek is likely to give visitors a clear perception of the war that was a sad period of American history.
Divisions in the nation at the time created by protesters and politicians, obscured the contributions and sacrifices of the Vietnam veterans.
To see the Military Patriots’ Vietnam War Exhibit and Education Center in Melbourne and hear an explanation about the war and the artifacts is to gain new perception and a better understanding of the war.
The Vietnam War Exhibit and Education Center is currently housed in three rooms of a building in an industrial area at 2475 Jen Drive, Suite 5 in Melbourne.
“My vision is to relocate to a much larger facility, one with more traffic,” said Bydalek, a U.S. Marine who served for 13 months in combat in Vietnam, from October 1966 to November 1967.
Even some who served in Vietnam might not have ever seen some of the items exhibited at the center. It is an emotional visit for some who were there.
“Most people are overwhelmed,” said Bydalek, who served with the 105th Artillery, 5th Marine.
The exhibit of hundreds of items includes weapons, flares, radios, uniforms, helmets, flak jackets, canteens, posters, magazines, photos and tools.
“You see it there, you read about it here and you see it being used incountry,” Bydalek said as he pointed out some of the exhibit, a collection he started 40 years ago. He said he had not originally set out to amass such a collection of artifacts.
The center is supported entirely by donations. It also welcomes volunteers and donations of memorabilia.
The exhibit even includes information about post-traumatic stress disorder and Agent Orange. Bydalek said that 17 veterans with whom he met periodically for breakfast through the years, have died from illnesses caused by Agent Orange.
“This is the wall I wish that I can impart more about, Agent Orange,” Bydalek said as his emotions caused him to pause momentarily as he thought of friends lost to the effects of the defoliant chemical.
Many Vietnam veterans are still becoming ill and dying from the effects of Agent Orange, an herbicide and defoliant used extensively during the war.
U.S. troops fighting in Vietnam served about 240 days in combat, far more than during World War II or other wars. A typical tour of duty was 12 months.
Beverly Sangeleer enthusiastically points out exhibits to which she is very familiar. She served in the Navy Nurses Corps and treated many of the wounded stabilized by Corpsmen and brought from Vietnam to Philadelphia
SENIOR LIFE Klinton Landress
Ben Bydalek began collecting Vietnam War military artifacts and memorabilia 40 years ago. The Vietnam War Exhibit and Education Center is housed at 2475 Jen Drive, Suite 5 in Melbourne.
Naval Hospital.
“They patched them up and sent them to us for long-term care,” said Sangeleer, who turned 21 during her two years treating the Vietnam wounded. “That’s all I dealt with.”
More than 150,000 troops were wounded in the war and 58,000 died.
One of those killed on May 3, 1967 was James D. Borowski. A mortar attack that killed Borowski also wounded Bydalek. Years later, Bydalek would contact the family of Borowski, whose photo and story are part of the exhibit.
The Vietnam War Exhibit and Education Center is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. For special visits at other times or other information, call 321212-9726 or visit vietnamwarexhibit. com/. SL
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