Medals Replaced From War in Vietnam
February 18, 2016
By: Mike Sigov, Toledo Blade
February 18, 2016
Gary L. Everett was 19 when he was drafted into the Army to start a year-long tour of duty with the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam.
Nearly a half-century later, Mr. Everett received war medals to replace those he said were lost over the years.
Mr. Everett, 68, of Toledo said Wednesday was a happy day for him.
That’s when he received the medals from U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) during a Salute to Veterans Week Celebration at the Veterans Affairs Toledo Outpatient Clinic in South Toledo, where she individually congratulated about two dozen veterans.
This week is the VA’s National Salute to Veteran Patients Week.
“I am glad,” said Mr. Everett, who had his brother, sister, and girlfriend by his side.
“The [recognition] makes you feel good ... But I am still fighting the [effects of] Agent Orange stuff that they wouldn’t give me benefits for.”
Mr. Everett said that in 1967 and 1968, he was exposed to Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant that’s been linked to severe health problems including cancer.
Mr. Everett said he reached out to Miss Kaptur to try to get his war medals replaced.
On Wednesday, she formally presented him with the Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with Silver Star Attachment, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Sharpshooter Badge with Auto Rifle Bar, and Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar.
“I am happy to be doing this, it’s a great honor to be doing this,” Miss Kaptur said of presenting medals to war veterans who had lost or misplaced them — something that she said she does “on a regular basis.
“This is one of the most rewarding parts of my job,” she said. “No matter the age of the veterans, it provides a kind of completeness to their lives.”
U.S. Rep. Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green) said veterans should always be thanked for their service.
“We owe everything to the men and women who have served this country ...” Mr. Latta said. “I tell folks, ‘Anytime you have the ability to thank them, thank them.’”
Mr. Everett, a Toledo native, who grew up in Swanton, graduated from the former Fulton School in 1965 and went to the former Owens Technical Institute in 1966.
He had basic training at Fort Knox in Kentucky and his surveyor training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma before being deployed to Vietnam, where his helicopter unit primarily flew reconnaissance missions, he said.
He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1969, with the rank of Specialist 4.
When Mr. Everett, a retired factory worker at the former Champion Spark Plug factory on Upton Avenue, was being presented the medals, he thought about “how miserable it was over there [in Vietnam],” Mr. Everett said. “You kind of avoid the memories for a lot of years. You bury it in your life.”
Once home, Mr. Everett planned to put the medals in a box and on a wall.
“I won’t lose them again though,” he said.