Welcome to Community Stories.
I'm your host, Melissa Kaye.
Last week we heard the first part of Tom Heiser's story.
Tom is well known here at our station as he does our monthly veterans update.
He's very involved with local veteran organizations in our area, including the VBA, the VFW, the
Community Veterans Service Commission, and more.
Tom's story began at the age of 19 when he signed up before he would have been drafted.
Government issued equipment, determined he was too short to be in the military police,
which was the job he wanted.
And he ended up serving in military intelligence, doing radio research.
Tom started his overseas deployment in Germany, spent 11 months in Vietnam, and won in Thailand
as a Morris code intercept operator.
Tom shared some of his stories from deployment.
Now we'll hear the rest of Tom's tale after he and his wife moved from Virginia to Wisconsin.
Here's Tom Heiser on Community Stories.
Welcome back.
I'm here with Tom Heiser, and we're going to pick up where you left off.
So you served over, you finished your time up in Germany, and you came back.
What happened next?
Well, Germany was my first stop in Vietnam, Thailand and in Virginia.
And when we were in Vietnam, because the war was winding down, my enlistment went from
three years to four years because of the training we had to go through, and they said,
well, we got to get their money worth out of this training.
And they said, anybody want a year knocked off their enlistment while I raised my hand
with a pen in my hand, and I signed it because I got, it was down to three years.
While we were married at the time, my wife was pregnant.
We moved back to Bala County.
We lived in City of Wapong at the time, and I became a prison guard, and it was there
for a year and a half.
And then I always wanted to get in law enforcement, so then I got into the City of Wapong Police
Department.
And tell you you were too short?
No.
Good.
Yeah, I was, I was okay there.
And what was interesting is there were four of us on a shift, and it wasn't until the
last ten years that I found out two of the other guys were even in the military, you didn't
talk about it.
Oh.
One was in the Air Force, one was in Navy, and I was in the Army, but you didn't talk
about where you were.
You just came home, put the uniform off, put on clothes and went into your job.
Well, I suppose if there's so many things you couldn't talk about, it's just easier
not to bring it up.
Right.
And then I got a job at the Grand Rapids Police Department, and retired from there, and
now I'm involved with all the veterans units that we talked about earlier.
So have you enjoyed your retirement at all?
I'm trying to stay busy, as best you can, because I talked to a person one time that was
getting ready to retire, and I said, well, you know, you're going to sit in the rocking
chair, and they said, that's what they refined you, and I thought that's a good point.
That is.
So when you go to high school and you have these talks with students, are you encouraging
them to enlist or you just answer in questions?
We're answering questions, and one of the things that we usually enter discussion with is when
you get ready to look for employment and stuff, check it out, you know, it's changed
an awful lot since, you know, early 70s.
It's not as rigid as it was before, a friend of mine, son, just enlisted in the Marines,
not that long ago, and he's learning to be a plumber.
Wow.
Now that's something that's going to be used forever plus two weeks, you know, the trades.
You know, get into the trades, get into the computer things.
All of those are skills that can be employed after the military.
Right.
Exactly.
And basically taking your apprenticeship is now behind you.
Yeah.
You know, and you're employable.
Exactly.
You don't have to go to more schools, you know, well, advance, I'm saying to get the
initial job.
You're put in the door.
Right.
You're there.
I would recommend it.
I really would.
I see it into the trades.
So let's talk a little bit about these groups that you're involved with, the VFW, the
VBA.
What brings you joy about being involved in all of these organizations?
Moving forward, I try to work with whether it be the commander or the president, you
know, the vice commander, whatever.
Going forward, looking for more people to join these organizations.
That has also changed when I got out, a lot of the war work with VFW would look at us
say you're not a veteran, that's not a war, you know, that has changed for the better.
We want everybody to get in, yes, I'm a little bit older, I understand that.
But we need the young people and the young people's ideas.
We've got in our organizations, we get everybody that from all ends of the spectrum, like I
was specifying, they call it, so I was like a sergeant.
We've got in the VFW, we've got a two-star, retired two-star general, which is real high.
We've got a two-star admiral.
These people are real high up in the organizations.
And rain has left at the door.
But they can share their experiences that were far different from leadership qualities
for, you know, large groups.
So you E5s that did all the grunt work?
Right, good work, grunt.
We don't refight the war, any of them at our meetings.
Basically what our meetings are is where we're at, where we're going, what we're going to
do in the community, and how can we can expand.
Our meetings degree start at six.
They're over by seven, and everybody's out of there by quarter to eight, you know, we're
not trying to drink the bar, try, we don't do that anymore.
What we do is sit around and socialize with beverages and there's usually food, you know,
there are pizzas, or we have a catering company that works out at VFW, they leave something
for us.
Nice.
And it's a lot of fun.
Yeah.
So you're continuing that community that you had?
Right.
These are all veterans, we're all brothers, sisters, we're getting a lot of in the VFW,
we're getting more and more females coming in, which is great.
Wonderful.
So we're not the good old voice club.
It's far more inclusive.
That's gone away.
Good.
We don't have that anymore, at least at the Rapids VFW, it's all, hi, how you're doing?
So what would you say to somebody who hasn't yet crossed the threshold, but is thinking about
it?
Definitely take a look.
I'm doing a meeting, see what happens, meet the group that's there, the VFW also does
Zoom meetings because we have members all over and sometimes they can't make it while
they get on their computer and they do a Zoom meeting.
So we're getting there, you know, it's not that we're, you don't know the secret handshake
you can't get through the door.
We don't do that.
We're open to all.
Don't pass words at the door with a special knock.
Right.
We're open to any veteran that is qualified.
The biggest thing with the VFW is the name veteran of foreign wars.
We wish we could have people that stayed in the States.
We wish we could have people that got to Europe, but we've not in the war situation as members,
but by the constitution of the VFW and the, I hate to say it, the IRS rules do not allow
it.
Because if you start bringing in people that don't qualify for that, you could lose your
higher standings.
Yeah.
I mean, that's whatever.
Yeah.
Semantics.
Right.
But if you qualify, come on out.
You don't have to be active at every meeting, right?
No, you don't have to be active.
We do have some very, people that are very, very, very active and we have some people that
do help us, but even showing up at the meeting and input, never thought of that.
That's a good idea.
Why don't we try that?
Great ideas can come from anywhere.
Exactly.
We meet the third Thursday of the month, six o'clock.
You know, everybody says, where is the VFW?
I just say, if you're on your way to Rudolph for cheese, it's by the big tank.
You can't miss it.
You can't miss the big tank.
Oh, no, I'm going to work, yes.
It's a great location.
Yes, but definitely just come and check us out because we're looking for younger people.
And if you qualify, you're in.
Right now, many of the members are Vietnam veteran, Vietnam veteran in general.
However, we have Iraq, Afghanistan, we're also in, like, a bit of a tremendous level and
in the audience.
And those are people my age.
Right.
Yeah.
And I understand people have, you know, families and you have commitments, chances are your
children are involved in soccer, dance, basketball, you know, whatever, we understand that.
You can, but you can join and let's say you can zoom meeting, which gives you a chance.
Number one to see what's going on.
Number two to speak.
Yeah.
You got a question?
Yeah, I got an idea.
You know, your home, you're helping with their homework, your home, you can still zoom
in.
It's a great thing to have during a zoom meeting.
Let me tell you.
But, you know, those are the things that are available to, yeah, through the VFW.
VVA, they're not making any more Vietnam veterans.
So that's going to be going away, we're probably within 10 years because most of the Vietnam
veterans are somewhere between 72 and 80 something.
But the VFW is going to be there because there's some reason the government still has
us in foreign wars.
Yeah.
So they're still making, you know, qualified people there.
What you say, the younger veterans, they can make it, please do.
Yeah.
I can say zoom in.
Yeah.
So, you know, if you remember, our quartermaster, our treasure, whatever we want, will send
you an email with the link to zoom in.
So people can participate moderately.
Modernly.
Modernly.
So that's a word.
Yeah.
It works.
Did you ever think when you were learning Morris code that that would be a thing?
I didn't believe you could get past a cell phone where we didn't have what we had over
there was Mars radio, I mean, R.S. and what it was was you picked up the microphone,
they would do it through the phone lines and you'd say, over, well, now the people in
the States are where we're calling would talk and able to say over.
So then it was your turn to keep them like, and whoa, cool.
That was in the management.
Yeah.
And now, you have cell phones where you can talk all around the world and, you know, technology
is really.
I would like to know what is in the R and D departments.
I would probably be shocked, which I think all of us would.
Although you with your former intelligence clearance, you're probably the only one
that could know.
Well, that was interesting.
We did have a reunion on the Salt Dakota at Rapid City and there was an Air Force base
just outside of Rapid City and we got to go on a tour of that and we got into sections
that the general public didn't because of our clearances and they had to check us
out.
And I'll never forget we were in a, we was talking about some of the new technology that
was out there and one of our guys kept asking questions and the guy in charge of the presentation
to us looked at the guy and says, you want to start work Monday?
Oh, wow.
Yeah, it was interesting because we did get to see some of the advancements and going,
you know, jaw dropping, go, are you kidding me?
No, this is, and we're not even showing you the real stuff.
Wow.
Well, thank you for sitting down with me today, Tom.
It's been a pleasure speaking with you.
No problem, it's been fun and, uh, enjoy it and, uh, if you're a veteran, if you're a retired
law enforcement, police department, stop at the Herald's Cafe, second and fourth Wednesday
to the month and join the fun.
It's a good time and you have a great breakfast.
Yes, we do.
And I know you were there and as a civilian, what did you think of that?
The comradery in the room, the people sitting at tables just chatting easy as they've been
friends forever and it's, it's a great atmosphere.
It's a great opportunity to just connect with, with like human beings.
Right.
You saw it from yours.
Uh, I say it from mine.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So if there's any way, uh, anyone that has questions that like to get a hold of you.
Yeah.
If anybody has questions, um, the best thing to do is to call the VFW, um, our commander
will answer the phone.
We'll answer any questions for you.
And that's at seven one five six zero zero zero four zero one so one five six hundred zero
four zero one.
Wonderful.
Well, thank you, Tom.
It's been a pleasure.
Thank you very much.
It's been fun.
I appreciate it hearing your story.
No problem.
Thank you.
Stay tuned.
We'll be right back with more stories from your community.
This next story you'll hear is from Misty Sorenson, junior vice commander at VFW post
twenty five thirty four.
She's originally from this area and ended up back here after serving on a Navy ship during
Desert Storm and her continued service after that in California.
Parts of Misty story are difficult as she shares some of the negatives she faced serving
in the military as a woman, including being harassed by a figure of authority.
This is an unfortunate reality not only for women but also men and shouldn't be swept
under the rug in any environment.
All of us have a right to feel safe where we work and we should be empowered to speak
out when something isn't right.
Misty showed courage in that situation and we will discuss it with tact for the listening
audience and those who may be triggered having been in similar situations.
In Misty's story you'll hear what it was like to work in a foundry aboard in Navy ship
offshore from a desert and how her life has evolved to now.
Listen in as I chat with Misty Sorenson.
Hello this is Melissa K with Community Stories and I am here I'm delighted to be here with Misty.
Would you please introduce yourself and tell me the organization that you're involved
with.
Hi Melissa my name is Misty Sorenson.
I am a junior vice commander at VFW post twenty five thirty four Bucky Baldwin.
Wonderful so tell me your story how did you what made you decide to join the military.
I think like a lot of us we think we know exactly what we're going to do and we get there
and we have no clue and so I graduated in 1988 and kind of floundered around for a year.
I was living with family friends deciding what I wanted to do.
I lived with my uncle at the time and was working as a picker at Del Monte.
Oh like the fruit like the plant and Steven's point Del Monte yes beans and potatoes.
Boring very boring very monotonous and my uncle had been in the military.
He was in the Navy.
My grandma was a World War II Army nurse so I had thought about the military a little bit.
I had gone home one night after work and I said why didn't you ever say that I should
join the military and he says because I don't think you can handle it.
Oh no he didn't yeah so it was game on at that point.
I took my ass fabs and I qualified for any service and he was in the Navy so I chose Navy.
You were really showing it to him.
Absolutely absolutely.
And this was your uncle right yes okay yes so it wasn't long after that.
I was sworn in and maps in Milwaukee and started my Navy journey.
Wow yeah it was great it was it was great.
So that was what when did you join the Navy then?
October of 89 is my enlistment date yet.
I knew that at that point I had at least some kind of future you know it was comforting
to know that all of us were there scared at the same time but also the anticipation
of knowing that we were in the military was so amazing.
An empowering maybe?
Absolutely empowering yes yes like we could do we were we were going to save our country
yeah you know.
You're unstoppable.
Absolutely.
So what happened from there where did you go?
My ship was in port let me back up I digress.
I went to boot camp in Orlando, Florida.
Okay.
After boot camp I went to my in the Navy there's three different categories, semen, airmen
and firemen and they all have different jobs in each category.
My specific job that I wanted was one of the worst jobs that you can pick but it was
a bet with my uncle at that point still.
So I was in firemen school.
Okay.
So not only did it teach us how to fight fires but it also taught us our trade that we
were going into.
So after that school which was in Orlando as well I got home on leave for a week and
then it was to my duty station which was the USS Samuel Gompers and Alameda California.
Okay.
So other side of the country absolutely that was my first pick and they did give me my
first pick.
So Alameda California was where I was going and I was on a ship that was all I knew.
So what happened when you got there?
It was very overwhelming at first because my specific ship held about 1,300 total people.
So it was like a floating city.
Yeah.
It was very overwhelming.
We all got lost.
We found out very quickly who got seasick and who did not.
Oh, I bet.
Yeah.
I did not think goodness.
I got my sea legs just fine.
But we were getting ready.
The ship had to go on a they're called a Westpac and it's basically my ship was a destroyer
tender which is basically a repair ship.
That's all we do is repairs.
Okay.
Okay.
So we were the number one repair ship in the seventh fleet.
Our ship was there in Alameda.
We got on.
We learned we were sleeping in three bunks tall, three racks tall.
Yes.
Many, many small spaces but probably the best sleep I ever had in my life.
Oh, really?
Yes.
It was odd to see.
Yes.
Yes.
Oh, wow.
And you were in hammocks?
No, we were in beds.
Okay.
Yeah.
They're metal that you lift up.
Yeah.
So I worked, my job was a molder which is no longer a rate in the Navy.
But I worked in a foundry on the ship.
Oh.
Okay.
What did that entail?
That entailed everything that a normal foundry does.
We were a full working foundry.
We made molds of, because you can't go to a Navy store and just buy parts.
Oh, right.
You're out at sea.
Yes.
So we would tag along and go anywhere we were needed.
And that made our West pack to Southeast Asia.
Following ships that needed repairs, our foundry was a, like I said, a full foundry.
It was from start to finish.
We got the parts from the people.
We made molds of them in a special sand, oil-based sand.
And we did our own metal pouring.
Wow.
So you recreated the part to fix what was going on?
Made the exact same part from scratch and, yeah, it was, it was amazing.
And it was hotter and dirtier and nastier than my uncle could have ever handled.
So it was the best.
So you showed him what?
I loved it.
I did.
I really did.
Wow.
So you sailed all the way over to Asia?
Yeah.
We sailed to Asia.
Our first West pack was in Asia, where we went to two places in Japan.
Did you get to go to shore?
We did.
We were in shore at Yukusuke, Japan, and in Sassibo, Japan, absolutely incredibly beautiful
there.
Wow.
Absolutely beautiful.
And I have to ask everybody, did you eat the food?
Oh, of course.
What was your favorite?
Of course.
Now, probably my favorite was the street vendors.
They would cook things, I mean, full meals on these street vendor things, and they would
have, it's called yakisoba.
You can get it here in like ramen kind of style, but there it was all fresh and it was
absolutely incredible.
And that's like a noodle in a sauce, with other things, oh, so good.
So good.
Yeah, but yeah, we've got to shore in Yukusuke, Japan, Sassibo, Japan, then we went to
Korea, did repairs there, then we went to Hong Kong, did repairs there.
So you got to mingle with the people on the other ships while you were doing these?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
Whoever was in port at the time, there were several ships doing different military drills.
Okay.
Let's put them.
Because this now we're in like the early 90s?
Yes.
Yeah.
Early 90s.
Yes.
So we went anywhere that they needed our help, basically.
Hong Kong, Korea, China, Japan, the Philippines, absolutely incredible lands over there.
Wow.
Beautiful.
Did you interact a lot with the native people while you were on offshore?
You know, they kind of, they're so used to service people, you know, coming in and out, that
they kind of don't care.
Kind of treated you a lot.
Yeah.
Like tourists or like we were just one of them coming shopping, you know, it was no big
deal.
Gotcha.
So yeah, we thought it was incredible, but they were whatever we've seen your car.
Yeah.
Just bring us your money.
We appreciate your business yet.
Yeah.
So from there we, we came back home to Alameda.
We were there for some time.
And then we were called to Desert Storm.
Oh.
Okay.
So that was, that was very frightening.
We all knew that it was a possibility, but to actually get the word and knowing we were
going to war was very scary.
But that's what we signed up for.
And that was what we were going to do.
And we went over there and we made sure that they had every repair at their fingertips,
anything they needed.
So we were there in, in the same capacity, were you still on a ship?
Yes.
We were offshore a little bit for the most part during the, during the day.
Okay.
And then at night we would come in and dock and we would get to go out on Liberty if everything
was okay.
Not a lot to do because there was a lot of restrictions over there.
So we really pretty much stayed close to, to the ship.
Because we never knew at a moment's notice what exactly was going to happen.
So things were very unstable.
Very much so.
Yes.
Yeah.
There were civilians being killed on the streets.
You know, it was out of control.
It was, it was very scary.
So what kind of repairs were you doing at that time for, because you weren't repairing
ships.
We still were repairing ship parts.
Oh, okay.
Yeah.
And not only did we have a foundry, but we had an incredible, huge machine shop.
So when we weren't busy, they were jam packed with work.
So we did other things other than parts as well.
We did plaques.
We did a plaque for Robert Stack from unsolved mysteries.
He came aboard our ship.
He was ex Navy and he would need a plaque for his group that he was in and we got to make
it.
And he came and met us in our foundry.
He made him.
Yeah.
It was amazing.
Oh, wow.
It was mostly parts over there that we were making, but once in a while we'd have fun
things we get to make, you know, was it hotter over there?
Oh, my God.
That was probably the worst part of it, because we had to wear from head to toe fire retardant
materials.
Right.
When you're working in the foundry, you have to be protected.
Absolutely.
And that is hot in and itself.
And it was probably 125 degrees in the foundry, I would say, because it was at least 110
outside.
So then you add all that heat, molten metal to that.
Yeah.
It was very hot.
We had to stay very hydrated and make sure we had each other's backs.
That's bad.
Yeah.
Well, let's take a short pause and maybe cool off a moment here from our sponsors and
we'll be right back with more of your story, Misty.
Thank you.
Stick around.
We'll be right back with a continuation of the story.
And now back to community stories.
And we're back.
I'm here with Misty Sorenson.
And at this point in your story, you are on a Navy ship over at Desert Storm.
It's 110 degrees outside and way more than that in the foundry where you're working.
How was that experience?
You said you needed to look out for each other, have each other's back.
Did it really bring you together more and bond you as a team?
I think it brought us all together and not just so much even just the foundry.
We were all so scared of being over there.
We had no idea when we were going to be fired at, but absolutely, it brought us all much
closer together from other ships as well, you know.
But it definitely did make us closer in the foundry because safety issues, we had people
passing out with heat exhaustion and-
And that's nothing to mess around with.
And that was a full crucible of molten metal.
No.
No, it's-
So we had to really be safe and diligent in safety.
Hmm.
Number one.
Yes, absolutely.
So how did that end for you?
How long were you there?
I was actually there from April to October.
And this is what year?
90.
This is 91.
Okay.
I found out I was pregnant in Desert Storm.
Okay.
Scared me to death.
There was so much burn pits, burning things over there that we had no idea that we were
breathing in.
The air was so thick that it was hard to see, sometimes the ship across the other port,
you know.
So not only was it hot and humid, you had other particles in the air as well.
Yeah, very much pollution and, yeah, it was- it was not nice.
The burn pits were- we still have no idea what was burning.
So found out you were pregnant?
Found out I was pregnant, thank you.
Talk to my superiors and knew I couldn't stay.
So I, within a couple days, was flown from the ship back home to Alameda, California,
where I was stationed on Treasure Island.
Really?
Yes, which is right in the middle of the Bay Bridge.
Okay.
I worked in a post office there, just sorting mail.
And I had my daughter in January of 92.
They gave me the choice.
I could stay in, but I had to go back and meet my ship right away.
Oh.
I, with what was going on in my home life, that wasn't an option.
Because you wouldn't have been able to take your daughter with me.
Yes.
And I wasn't going to leave her with other people.
In the situation?
Yes.
Okay.
So, I had to get out.
It made me very sad.
I miss a lot of people.
Yeah.
That camaraderie.
The camaraderie was amazing and you can't find that until you're out and you join these
organizations.
Because it's a different kind of camaraderie than you have in other careers.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
If you're military, you know other military has your back.
Right.
Without question.
Without question.
It doesn't matter where you come from, what your history is.
Rank, history, rate doesn't matter.
None of it.
No.
We are, we are all one.
Yeah.
And now you are part of the VFW post 2534.
I am.
I was in the VFW in Oshkash.
Okay.
And I was looking for a home to buy both my children lived in Oshkash at the time.
So I thought I would be there closer for them, but it ended up being too close.
So yes.
And I was born and raised over this way.
I knew the area Wisconsin Rapids was always so beautiful when I was young.
We always came to see the rich people's houses because they had cool lights.
So I decided to found a house here in Wisconsin Rapids and transferred from the VFW and the
honor guard in Oshkash to Wisconsin Rapids and joined their VFW.
I am now the, they elected me their junior vice commander.
So I'm an officer now.
And I know this is a radio medium, but if you could see the humility on her face while she's
saying that it's wonderful.
So this is the good part of your story.
This is the good part for our listeners.
I would like to jump back for just a moment and ask you to share what some of the negative
parts of being a woman in the military are.
If you would.
If you feel comfortable.
Absolutely.
One of the things that I came across and I hope that they have it better under control
at this point was military sexual trauma.
I had a chief that was in charge of the Foundry.
He was a master chief, which is the highest chief you can be before you go into office
officer.
He liked to grab our butts once in a while.
You thought it was cool.
Slap us on the bottom, call us his girls and you know, we didn't think it was cool.
No.
Not a bit.
No, that is amazing of your privacy.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I was the only one that went forward and said something to his boss.
There was nothing done because the other girls didn't want to come forward due to repercussions.
So that was probably the worst thing for being a woman other than that, I mean, you pick
your own job.
So if you, I picked molder and you just do your job and you go home and try to deal with
it and pray to God that because it was early on, women hadn't been allowed in the military
for very long at that point.
So I'm hoping now that 20 some years later, 30 years later, that things have changed
and they're much better.
But the fact that you told someone, you told a superior officer, you weren't heard.
No.
That hurt you.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I mean, you're dealing with not only your home life and that you're dealing with something
that you can't do anything about because you're standing alone against higher rank.
So nothing was done.
Well, we definitely hope that that is not the case now that more people feel empowered
to come forward and to band together when those things are happening because that is
the only way we use our voice.
Absolutely.
We also need those around us.
Absolutely.
Bring us up and support us the same way you have that camaraderie ship in the military.
Absolutely.
He would have been prosecuted through the military if the other girls would have gone
with me to say what was going on.
But when you're afraid for your career, for your person, because if he's taking liberties
with you, it was with all of us, yeah.
Well, let's take another momentary pause here here from our sponsors and then we'll
come back and share the good parts of your story.
Stay tuned.
We'll be right back with more stories from your community.
This is Community Stories on WFHR.
Thank you for tuning in to your community.
So I'm here with Misty.
My name is Melissa Kay and this is Community Stories and Misty, I know that we just covered
a very difficult part of your story.
And thank you for sharing that with our listeners, because I do think it's important for people
to understand, especially historically, how difficult it has been for women in the military.
And we do hope that those things have changed for the better.
I certainly hope so.
I'm sure they have.
Yes.
And now we are to the present time and you have moved here to Wisconsin Revas and joined
VFW Post 2534 and not only joined, but been nominated and elected to the position of
Junior Vice Commander, yes.
So you are a third in command.
I am third in command.
So tell me about this.
You know, I don't even know where or what to tell you about it.
It was so out of the blue.
I had no idea that anybody was going to nominate me for anything because I had only
been with them not even a year.
Okay.
I've still not been with them for a year.
So when I was nominated, it was a shocking moment.
I had no idea what to say.
I accepted nomination and went to the state VFW convention this year in Green Bay, went
through training for Junior Vice Commander.
Yeah.
Now I'm just about getting the Desert Storm people active.
We're all in our 50s now or 40s ish.
Yeah.
Yeah.
We are most of us raising grandchildren or something to do with that.
But we need people terribly.
The VFW and the organizations in this town are absolutely incredible.
They get involved in the community, which is what it's all about.
To do things for the community and see the appreciation that we get is that warm fuzzy
feeling that we all need, you know, absolutely.
And you said before that for people who haven't yet joined the VFW, have served in the past,
have served in Afghanistan or Iraq or in Desert Storm, and then they're missing that camaraderie
that they had at those times.
They'll find it at the VFW.
They will absolutely find it at the VFW.
We have, I believe, the coolest VFW post in Wisconsin.
We have great commander.
We have great people.
I was welcomed with open arms.
We actually just got our, we welcomed our first transgender to the VFW.
Yes.
Welcome.
Yeah.
And she fits right in.
Yeah.
It's a new time.
It is.
It is a new time.
It is definitely as I talked with Sean, not the good old boys.
No.
They love anymore.
No.
It's nothing like that.
No.
It's not the beer drink and old men.
It's, we are out in the community doing things for the community, volunteering, trying to
get the word out to the veterans that if you're missing that camaraderie in any level, there
are so many organizations to join for veterans.
The DAV here is wonderful.
That's the disabled American veterans.
Yes.
Okay.
The active in the community here as well.
The American Legion guys are very active as well.
They need newer members because they're fading fast.
In 2028, our Vietnam veterans of America will be no more.
Wow.
So these guys are in their 70s now, suffering with age and orange and whatever else from
over there.
We need our veterans to come and even if you don't want to be involved in everything,
you can pick and choose whatever you want to do.
You can be as involved or uninvolved as you want.
You will not regret that decision.
We are open all the time, we are available to talk, we are here for our other veterans.
We just need them to know that we are here for them and to please come join us.
Let's talk old stories.
Let's keep these organizations alive to better the community and to be apart.
Because the sad thing is is that nobody else is going to do it for you.
No.
When the Vietnam veterans are done, it's time for us to start storm veterans to step up.
We're next in line and we have to carry on that legacy.
You have to be boots on the ground in combat or war zone in order for you to become VFW.
Right.
So there are specific qualifications.
There are.
But the American Legion, you do not have to have any rate rank.
There's no restrictions.
You just have to be former military, you know, that Vietnam veterans of America, they're
still getting new members, even though they're going to be ending in a couple years.
But doing the things in the community and being able to do a funeral for a veteran, a fellow
veteran is hard to describe.
It's beyond, it makes, it's beyond words, really.
It makes you realize how important we are and we have been and we need to continue to
be.
We wouldn't have the freedoms that we have without the service that you have given.
No.
We wouldn't.
My grandma from World War II Army nurse to my uncle in Korea to the guys in Vietnam vets.
If not for them, I wouldn't be here, you know, with the way the world is right now.
We need the camaraderie.
We need the unity.
Absolutely.
To know what another veteran, if they're struggling with anything to do with past experiences,
past experiences, or even now in the political realm, there are peer groups available to
talk to for.
Their service is available for almost anything of that transition you know with.
Everything.
Yes.
And the more that you are able to come and join your peers at VFW or with the American
Legion, you can find out more about those services.
Absolutely.
There is the hero's cafe that meets a couple of times a month that is always nice because
you see different veterans and they're sometimes spouses and families and it's a wonderful
breakfast.
It is.
It's just a getting together of all the different military and you know town people, city officials
and what not where we can you know find out where can we be used, where can we need us.
Absolutely.
You've dedicated your lives to service already and so many of you continue to do so and we
thank you.
Thank you for that.
I appreciate that.
It's my honor truly.
I, there's no better feeling than giving back to those families that have lost their
veteran or giving back to the community because the community here gives back to us.
Well, thank you for joining me today, Misty.
Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate you sharing your story with us.
Thank you.
Thank you for joining us for community stories.
I'm your host, Melissa Kay.
Join us next week for more stories from your community.
