thedrifter
05-27-07, 07:26 AM
The new vets
By Brian Saxton
THE NEWS-TIMES
NEW FAIRFIELD -- The sun-dappled lawns on the campus of Western Connecticut State University are far removed from the sights and stench of war, but Brandon Botelho has experienced them both.
The 23-year-old New Fairfield resident, now a freshman at WestConn, served one tour of duty in Afghanistan and two more in Iraq before he left the U.S. Marine Corps last year.
"At first it was strange being back, but I took six months off to relax," Botelho said last week. "That's what they recommend."
Nonetheless, as one of what the American Legion Nonetheless, as one of what the American Legion now calls "our newest veterans," Botelho said that Memorial Day has taken on a new and deeper meaning for him.
Growing up in New Fairfield, Botelho said he didn't think about it that much when he was a boy.
Today is a different story.
Botelho is spending this Memorial Day weekend in Lakeland, Fla., with a group of other Marines to honor the memory of a comrade who was killed in Afghanistan in May 2004 while Botelho was there.
Cpl. Ron Payne, 23, died in a firefight during a mission deep in the desert to find a reputed al-Qaida leader. Payne was the first Marine killed in combat while serving in Afghanistan.
"We were in the same company," Botelho said. "He was a great guy. He was always looking out for everyone else."
Last year 12 other members of the company went to Payne's home in Lakeville for a memorial service and stayed together for several days.
"They came in from all over the country," Botelho said. "This year we're expecting between 15 and 20."
Three weeks ago Botelho lost another young friend in action. Army Sgt. James Allen Dunkley, a former Marine in his mid-20s, who once served with Botelho, was killed in Iraq.
Botelho was planning to go his funeral in Pennsylvania on Thursday.
"Losing these two friends has definitely made me think more about the significance of Memorial Day," Botelho said. "I think it's important to remember them. I'm certainly hoping to stay in touch with all the other guys for the rest of my life."
Botelho, who joined the Marines after graduating from New Fairfield High School in 2001, spent four years and five months in uniform.
During his first tour in Iraq in 2003, he was assigned as a scout with a seven-man crew aboard a $900,000 armored, all-weather vehicle. The crew's primary task was to determine the enemy's position and report back information.
Botelho's four months in Iraq, that he later described as "pretty scary," drew him into firefights involving Iraqi civilians as well as insurgents.
In one 13-hour battle involving small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, 400 Iraqis were left dead. The Americans lost no one.
"It was a big part of my life," Botelho said last week. "It's weird now to think of myself as a war vet, but I suppose I am. When I think about war veterans, I think about my grandpa who was in World War II."
U.S. Army veteran and Legion spokeswoman Ramona Joyce, who spent 14 years on active duty from 1988 to 2002, said the Legion is emphasizing the need to support those men and women serving overseas who are the nation's "newest veterans."
One of the Legion's programs, "Heroes to Hometowns," has established a support network that coordinates resources for severely injured service military personnel returning home.
"As long as these dedicated Americans fight for us, we will be there for them," Joyce said. "It is important that everyone gives them all the support possible."
Joyce said Legion posts are being urged to welcome home the "newest veterans" by organizing events such as community ceremonies on national holidays, dinners and school speaking engagements and offering certificates of appreciation.
"We owe these guys a lot," said Luis Rosa, 64, of Legion Post 60 in Danbury, who spent four years with the Navy in Vietnam. "They've made a huge sacrifice."
Rosa said the post has made its own contribution to welcoming home the "newest veterans" in the Danbury area by presenting awards, offering families the free use of the hall for homecoming receptions and encouraging them to become members of the Legion.
"We are very proud of what these young men have done," Rosa said.
Jace McKenney, 65, of Brookfield, who served with the Marines from 1961 to 1967 and was in Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban missile crisis, said it was important that the "newest veterans" should be recognized for their service to their country.
"They need all the support they can get," McKenney said.
McKenney's brother, Michael, 62, served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam and receives disability pay for the effects of Agent Orange.
Joyce acknowledged that those servicemen who returned from Vietnam were treated "poorly" and did not receive an enthusiastic homecoming.
"We're finding that those same Vietnam veterans will not allow the same thing to happen to the men and women returning today," Joyce said.
When Botelho returned to New Fairfield from his first stint in Iraq, he was greeted by a nine-car motorcade, scores of cheering townspeople and a 20-member contingent of veterans.
Danbury resident Nelson Martins, 27, who served with the Marines in Iraq in 2003 and came back to a big homecoming party that same year, has since married and works for a medical manufacturing company in Bridgewater.
"I came home and found kindness and understanding," Martins said last week.
Like Botelho, Martins has been rethinking his concept of Memorial Day.
Martins, who joined the Marines in 1999, a year after graduating from Danbury High School, said the number of friends he has lost in the war is now in the "low teens."
"Memorial Day used to be the best day to go to the beach," Martins said. "Now it's symbolic to me for other reasons."
Martins, who has since become a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Brewster, N.Y., attends parades and takes flowers to the war memorial at Rogers Park in Danbury.
"I call the families of friends who have passed away," Martins said. "I think about the friends I've lost and will never see or talk to again."
Contact Brian Saxton
at bsaxton@newstimes.com
or at (203) 731-3332.
Ellie
By Brian Saxton
THE NEWS-TIMES
NEW FAIRFIELD -- The sun-dappled lawns on the campus of Western Connecticut State University are far removed from the sights and stench of war, but Brandon Botelho has experienced them both.
The 23-year-old New Fairfield resident, now a freshman at WestConn, served one tour of duty in Afghanistan and two more in Iraq before he left the U.S. Marine Corps last year.
"At first it was strange being back, but I took six months off to relax," Botelho said last week. "That's what they recommend."
Nonetheless, as one of what the American Legion Nonetheless, as one of what the American Legion now calls "our newest veterans," Botelho said that Memorial Day has taken on a new and deeper meaning for him.
Growing up in New Fairfield, Botelho said he didn't think about it that much when he was a boy.
Today is a different story.
Botelho is spending this Memorial Day weekend in Lakeland, Fla., with a group of other Marines to honor the memory of a comrade who was killed in Afghanistan in May 2004 while Botelho was there.
Cpl. Ron Payne, 23, died in a firefight during a mission deep in the desert to find a reputed al-Qaida leader. Payne was the first Marine killed in combat while serving in Afghanistan.
"We were in the same company," Botelho said. "He was a great guy. He was always looking out for everyone else."
Last year 12 other members of the company went to Payne's home in Lakeville for a memorial service and stayed together for several days.
"They came in from all over the country," Botelho said. "This year we're expecting between 15 and 20."
Three weeks ago Botelho lost another young friend in action. Army Sgt. James Allen Dunkley, a former Marine in his mid-20s, who once served with Botelho, was killed in Iraq.
Botelho was planning to go his funeral in Pennsylvania on Thursday.
"Losing these two friends has definitely made me think more about the significance of Memorial Day," Botelho said. "I think it's important to remember them. I'm certainly hoping to stay in touch with all the other guys for the rest of my life."
Botelho, who joined the Marines after graduating from New Fairfield High School in 2001, spent four years and five months in uniform.
During his first tour in Iraq in 2003, he was assigned as a scout with a seven-man crew aboard a $900,000 armored, all-weather vehicle. The crew's primary task was to determine the enemy's position and report back information.
Botelho's four months in Iraq, that he later described as "pretty scary," drew him into firefights involving Iraqi civilians as well as insurgents.
In one 13-hour battle involving small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, 400 Iraqis were left dead. The Americans lost no one.
"It was a big part of my life," Botelho said last week. "It's weird now to think of myself as a war vet, but I suppose I am. When I think about war veterans, I think about my grandpa who was in World War II."
U.S. Army veteran and Legion spokeswoman Ramona Joyce, who spent 14 years on active duty from 1988 to 2002, said the Legion is emphasizing the need to support those men and women serving overseas who are the nation's "newest veterans."
One of the Legion's programs, "Heroes to Hometowns," has established a support network that coordinates resources for severely injured service military personnel returning home.
"As long as these dedicated Americans fight for us, we will be there for them," Joyce said. "It is important that everyone gives them all the support possible."
Joyce said Legion posts are being urged to welcome home the "newest veterans" by organizing events such as community ceremonies on national holidays, dinners and school speaking engagements and offering certificates of appreciation.
"We owe these guys a lot," said Luis Rosa, 64, of Legion Post 60 in Danbury, who spent four years with the Navy in Vietnam. "They've made a huge sacrifice."
Rosa said the post has made its own contribution to welcoming home the "newest veterans" in the Danbury area by presenting awards, offering families the free use of the hall for homecoming receptions and encouraging them to become members of the Legion.
"We are very proud of what these young men have done," Rosa said.
Jace McKenney, 65, of Brookfield, who served with the Marines from 1961 to 1967 and was in Guantanamo Bay during the Cuban missile crisis, said it was important that the "newest veterans" should be recognized for their service to their country.
"They need all the support they can get," McKenney said.
McKenney's brother, Michael, 62, served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam and receives disability pay for the effects of Agent Orange.
Joyce acknowledged that those servicemen who returned from Vietnam were treated "poorly" and did not receive an enthusiastic homecoming.
"We're finding that those same Vietnam veterans will not allow the same thing to happen to the men and women returning today," Joyce said.
When Botelho returned to New Fairfield from his first stint in Iraq, he was greeted by a nine-car motorcade, scores of cheering townspeople and a 20-member contingent of veterans.
Danbury resident Nelson Martins, 27, who served with the Marines in Iraq in 2003 and came back to a big homecoming party that same year, has since married and works for a medical manufacturing company in Bridgewater.
"I came home and found kindness and understanding," Martins said last week.
Like Botelho, Martins has been rethinking his concept of Memorial Day.
Martins, who joined the Marines in 1999, a year after graduating from Danbury High School, said the number of friends he has lost in the war is now in the "low teens."
"Memorial Day used to be the best day to go to the beach," Martins said. "Now it's symbolic to me for other reasons."
Martins, who has since become a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Brewster, N.Y., attends parades and takes flowers to the war memorial at Rogers Park in Danbury.
"I call the families of friends who have passed away," Martins said. "I think about the friends I've lost and will never see or talk to again."
Contact Brian Saxton
at bsaxton@newstimes.com
or at (203) 731-3332.
Ellie