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The Vietnam Veterans Association Chapter held a ceremony honoring the POW-MIA from Vietnam this summer. Pictured here ready to launch balloons are Walter LaRue, Jim Friese, Paul Jones, Dave Miller, Lou Lutke, and Tom Mundell.

By Carol Arnett

When many Vietnam Veterans came home, they received less than a warm welcome. Now when the Vietnam Veterans meet, they greet newcomers with a hearty “Welcome Home.” It was the phrase said to three new members at the Vietnam Veterans Association (VVA) meeting last month.
The North County group meets once a month at the VFW. hall on St. Francois Street. The meetings are a combination of social time and community time. The chapter donates to several charities, participates in Veterans Activities like the upcoming parade, and sends packages to troops overseas. But the chapter also provides a place where all Vietnam Veterans are welcomed home.

Topics at the October meeting ranged from discussion of the upcoming Christmas party to updates on the Veterans Administration’s actions regarding diseases associated with Agent Orange.

Several members said the most valuable thing about the group was that it gave them a place to go where other people understood what they had been through. “If you want to talk about something,” one veteran said, “you can. But these guys know that sometimes you don’t want to talk about anything, and they’re OK with that.”

Several Vietnam veterans shared their stories after last month’s VVA meeting.  Their stories follow.

Paul Buffa

Buffa is the North County Veteran of the Year, and will be honored in this weekend’s parade.  He was drafted into the Army in 1967. He served in Vietnam is 1968 in an Artillery Unit. “When I first came back, I had not problems,” he said. “Having a group of people that can discuss thing and get along helped.” He said the VVA tries to provide that same support to today’s returning troops.

After Buffa was discharged, he moved to Florissant, where he has lived for 44 years. He was a mechanic and worked in a foundry for several years. He and his wife have seven grandchildren.

Buffa said the Veteran of the Year award was especially meaningful for him. He has leukemia, and after finishing a round of chemotherapy treatments, he and his wife took a vacation to Florida. While he was there, he got a call saying he was the Veteran of the Year. “What timing,” he said.

Don Merritt

. Merritt was in the Marines for four years. He was in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966. Among other duties, he was assigned to guard corpsmen who provided medical treatment to children and other Vietnamese.

“People called us thugs when we came home,” he said. “That hurt bad. There were more people there that did good that you never heard of.”

“We were there to do a job and we did our jobs, but a lot of good people went above and beyond,” Merritt said. “These are the people you don’t hear about.”

Merritt spoke very highly of the VVA. “The VVA took me in as family,” he said. “I love coming to meetings.” He said he appreciates that the VVA continues to fight for young people coming home now. “They need our help,” he said.

James Korynta

Korynta was raised in North Dakota. After his service in the armed forces, he worked in communications. He lives in Florissant with his wife of 35 years, and has three children.

He said veterans will usually say hello to fellow veterans. As an example, he told a story of an incident that recently happened to him.

“I was standing in line at Bass Pro Shop,” he said, “when a man noticed my hat and asked me about my time in the service. As we talked, I said I was stationed at Tinker Air Force base and he said that he was also stationed there. As we continued to talk, we realized we were there at the same time. When he said he was a dentist, I realized he was the dentist who pulled my wisdom teeth 49 years earlier.”

David Miller

Miller served in the Navy from 1960 to 1965. He was in Cuba in 1962 and 63 and Vietnam in 1964 and 65. He was in Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban Missile Crisis aboard the USS Mount McKinley. He was part of what was called the “Gator Navy,” that used amphibious vehicle to carry Marines. He said as a radio man, he was aware of possible hostilities during the crisis, but wasn’t aware of how serious it was.

“I joined the Navy to see the world, and I did,” Miller said. After his time in the service, he worked for the Union Pacific railroad and saw the Western United States.

Miller praised both the VVA and the VFW. “If you’re newly back, or even not so newly,” he said, “come to the VFW. It gets things done for veterans.” He added that all the service groups work together to help veterans. “If it wasn’t’ for the service organizations, the veterans wouldn’t get as much help.”

Richard Ellwanger

Ellwanger service in the Army from 1967-69, and was in Vietnam in 1968-69. He enlisted with a guarantee to become a helicopter pilot. “The other branches required a college degree for pilots, but the Army didn’t,” he said.

He became a pilot, and after his time in the service, he flew for several years with a small aviation company, doing aerial photography work and charters. He also worked in law enforcement and the fire department.

Ellwanger was living in Florida when he met his wife, who lived in Florissant. “We met in flight school 40 years ago,” he said. They reconnected in 2001. “I chased my wife here,” he said.

Ellwanger said he was not active in veterans’ organizations until he moved to Florissant. He met a member through his wife, and the member urged him to come. Since then, he has served in several leadership roles in the VFW and St. Louis County Veteran Coalition, and is the current president of the VVA.

Edwin Dean

Dean served in the Army in 1967-69 and was in Vietnam from 1968-69. He was in an engineering unit that built road and bridges. Before he was drafted, he was working for the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODoT) on a survey party, so he was assigned to be a surveyor in the Army. After his time in the service, he returned to MODoT and worked there for 35 years until he retired in 2001. “I’ve been having a ball since,” he said.

Dean belongs to the 12^th District Mortuary Team of St. Louis County. The team is run through the VFW, and holds services at funeral homes for veterans whose families request them.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Dean said, adding that sometimes it is hard to do, but “it’s that last thing you can do for a fellow veteran.”

Dean has been a member of the team for about five years. Sometimes, he said, they go months without a funeral, and sometimes they go to three a week.

“I consider it an honor and a privilege to let the family know that they were appreciated,” Dean said.

Ron Goodhart

Goodhart served in the Marines from 1966-69 and was in Vietnam from 1966-68. He was in an amphibious tank group. “They called us amgrunts, because they made us infantry when they needed us.”

Goodhart was in boot camp in San Diego in 1966. R. Lee Emory, the drill sergeant who later became famous on TV’s mail call and is some movie roles, was at MCRD at the same time.

Goodhart worked as an electrician for 40 years. He lived in Florissant up until two years ago, when he moved to Cottleville. He and his wife have three children and two grandchildren, Paige and Tyler, who still live in Florissant.

Anonymous

One gentleman did not wish to give his name. He served in the Navy from 1961-69 and was in Vietnam from 1964-69. He was also part of the Cuban blockade, serving on the only ship that landed in Cuba.

He enlisted in the Navy when he was only 17, and he needed his mother’s signature. “My mother wouldn’t sign for the Marines. She thought the Navy was safer,” he said. He had two brother in the Navy and one in the Marines, and he was the only one who saw combat.

He was a helicopter crew member in Vietnam. “We picked up a lot of downed pilots around Hanoi,” he said. He said the Navy did not have designated rescue helicopters. “The closest one went to help.”

After his time in the service, he became a teamster and a truck driver. He also belongs to the VFW Honor Guard Mortuary Team. Though the funerals can sometimes be heartbreaking, he said, “It’s something I like to do.”

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