dnelson
11-12-06, 02:59 PM
Not sure if you have sen this but I am posting an update from the PGR(Patriot Guard Riders) web Site.
An update from the PGR, found this article
Vietnam War vet pitches in to help 83-year-old former Marine
Ramon Mena Owens, The Desert Sun
Vietnam veteran Ed Finch was one of the volunteers to help Marine veteran Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack fix her home after a water pipe flooded the Yucca Valley home.
Helping Gunnery Sgt. Brusack
Ed Finch has set up a fund to help his new friend, Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack:
The Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack Rehab Fund, 3185 Avalon Ave., Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Anyone interested in helping can also contact the Desert Cities Chapter of the 1st Marine Division Association, P.O. Box 10856, Palm Desert, CA 92255
Erica Solvig
The Desert Sun.
November 11, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They never served together. They're an entire generation apart. They live just over a mile from one another and, until recently, were strangers.
But the power of the military's brotherhood that's being honored throughout the country for Veterans Day today has brought them together.
And it led Ed Finch to help out a World War II veteran in need.
"It's the right thing to do," says Finch, a former Navy man who served during Vietnam. "Somebody needed help. ... We want to make sure that this person who served this country for so many years and contributed to the freedoms we have today gets rewarded in some small way."
So Finch, a 58-year-old biker with a gray Yosemite Sam-like moustache, is dedicating countless hours of his life to help Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack get her life in order.
Right now, her Yucca Valley home is everything but. On July 18, when the 83-year-old Marine veteran left for what she thought would be a two-week stay at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, a leaky pipe in the back of her toilet was causing problems.
Brusack did the best she could to clean it up. She thought she'd be back soon enough.
But weeks turned into months. Left virtually unchecked, it was enough to flood the nearly 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom house and ruin her clothes, her furniture and piles of garage sale finds she'd collected.
Someone at the hospital heard her story. Soon it was posted on various military support groups' Web sites.
OAS_AD('300x250_1');Can anyone help, the sites asked.
Finch happened to be surfing the Patriot Guard Riders' online forums - used to notify members of everything from troop welcome home parties to funerals.
Her story hit home.
She's 'always helped' others
At 83, Brusack lives alone in a small block house on the outskirts of Yucca Valley. Never married. No children.
The town has been home since she ended her 26-year career with the Marine Corps in the early 1970s.
Brusack's five-acre property is out of the way, in an area where people go to be on their own. But it's just a mile-and-a-half from Finch.
He describes his first visit there as overwhelming. The water had done its damage. Rats and rodents had taken over.
"It was a pretty sad state of affairs," Finch said.
He started getting others involved. Fellow Patriot Guard Riders agreed to help. Members of the Desert Cities Chapter of the 1st Marine Division Association, based in Palm Desert, started pitching in.
A few weeks ago, a crew rented a large trash bin, tore out the carpeting and practically gutted the house.
They salvaged her coin collection, some military memorabilia and pictures they plan to re-frame.
Finch this week returned to what's becoming a frequent routine. Broom in hand, he swept up the remains of the flooring.
The dust only added to the aroma of mildew.
He pushed the piles up against the walls, where the drywall has been removed but water marks are still visible.
He rattled off the needs: Electrical work. Plumbing. Flooring.
He figures it will take at least $10,000 to make this a home she can return to. So far the fund he set up at a local bank has $900.
"I've always helped everybody else," Brusack said during a phone interview from a San Diego rehabilitation hospital.
"This is the first time I've had to accept help. I know they're going to get me back on my feet."
Brusack hasn't been home yet. She had another surgery Thursday.
Finch, a nurse and father of 10, recently traveled down to San Diego to meet the woman he's now dedicated his time to.
She doesn't know when she'll be back. If her home's not ready, more strangers have agreed to let her stay with them.
Finch is already planning at least twice-weekly visits to help the one-time foster mother with whatever she needs.
Meanwhile, Brusack's story is gaining steam. She now gets phone calls and has piles of cards from people across the country.
"It's so wonderful to think that people still remember me," she said. "I guess it really is still a great country. I'm proud to have helped served."
That same bond is what keeps Finch coming back, leading the cleanup for a woman he's just starting to know.
"Once you meet her, you just can't help but be a friend," he said.
"My kids have inherited a grandmother."
An update from the PGR, found this article
Vietnam War vet pitches in to help 83-year-old former Marine
Ramon Mena Owens, The Desert Sun
Vietnam veteran Ed Finch was one of the volunteers to help Marine veteran Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack fix her home after a water pipe flooded the Yucca Valley home.
Helping Gunnery Sgt. Brusack
Ed Finch has set up a fund to help his new friend, Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack:
The Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack Rehab Fund, 3185 Avalon Ave., Yucca Valley, CA 92284
Anyone interested in helping can also contact the Desert Cities Chapter of the 1st Marine Division Association, P.O. Box 10856, Palm Desert, CA 92255
Erica Solvig
The Desert Sun.
November 11, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
They never served together. They're an entire generation apart. They live just over a mile from one another and, until recently, were strangers.
But the power of the military's brotherhood that's being honored throughout the country for Veterans Day today has brought them together.
And it led Ed Finch to help out a World War II veteran in need.
"It's the right thing to do," says Finch, a former Navy man who served during Vietnam. "Somebody needed help. ... We want to make sure that this person who served this country for so many years and contributed to the freedoms we have today gets rewarded in some small way."
So Finch, a 58-year-old biker with a gray Yosemite Sam-like moustache, is dedicating countless hours of his life to help Gunnery Sgt. Helen Brusack get her life in order.
Right now, her Yucca Valley home is everything but. On July 18, when the 83-year-old Marine veteran left for what she thought would be a two-week stay at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego, a leaky pipe in the back of her toilet was causing problems.
Brusack did the best she could to clean it up. She thought she'd be back soon enough.
But weeks turned into months. Left virtually unchecked, it was enough to flood the nearly 1,000-square-foot, two-bedroom house and ruin her clothes, her furniture and piles of garage sale finds she'd collected.
Someone at the hospital heard her story. Soon it was posted on various military support groups' Web sites.
OAS_AD('300x250_1');Can anyone help, the sites asked.
Finch happened to be surfing the Patriot Guard Riders' online forums - used to notify members of everything from troop welcome home parties to funerals.
Her story hit home.
She's 'always helped' others
At 83, Brusack lives alone in a small block house on the outskirts of Yucca Valley. Never married. No children.
The town has been home since she ended her 26-year career with the Marine Corps in the early 1970s.
Brusack's five-acre property is out of the way, in an area where people go to be on their own. But it's just a mile-and-a-half from Finch.
He describes his first visit there as overwhelming. The water had done its damage. Rats and rodents had taken over.
"It was a pretty sad state of affairs," Finch said.
He started getting others involved. Fellow Patriot Guard Riders agreed to help. Members of the Desert Cities Chapter of the 1st Marine Division Association, based in Palm Desert, started pitching in.
A few weeks ago, a crew rented a large trash bin, tore out the carpeting and practically gutted the house.
They salvaged her coin collection, some military memorabilia and pictures they plan to re-frame.
Finch this week returned to what's becoming a frequent routine. Broom in hand, he swept up the remains of the flooring.
The dust only added to the aroma of mildew.
He pushed the piles up against the walls, where the drywall has been removed but water marks are still visible.
He rattled off the needs: Electrical work. Plumbing. Flooring.
He figures it will take at least $10,000 to make this a home she can return to. So far the fund he set up at a local bank has $900.
"I've always helped everybody else," Brusack said during a phone interview from a San Diego rehabilitation hospital.
"This is the first time I've had to accept help. I know they're going to get me back on my feet."
Brusack hasn't been home yet. She had another surgery Thursday.
Finch, a nurse and father of 10, recently traveled down to San Diego to meet the woman he's now dedicated his time to.
She doesn't know when she'll be back. If her home's not ready, more strangers have agreed to let her stay with them.
Finch is already planning at least twice-weekly visits to help the one-time foster mother with whatever she needs.
Meanwhile, Brusack's story is gaining steam. She now gets phone calls and has piles of cards from people across the country.
"It's so wonderful to think that people still remember me," she said. "I guess it really is still a great country. I'm proud to have helped served."
That same bond is what keeps Finch coming back, leading the cleanup for a woman he's just starting to know.
"Once you meet her, you just can't help but be a friend," he said.
"My kids have inherited a grandmother."