thedrifter
11-28-08, 05:57 AM
Veterans drive is award winning
Comments | Recommend
November 27, 2008 - 7:50 PM
JANNETTE PIPPIN
ATLANTIC BEACH - A couple times a month, Jim Rowlette of Newport rises before dawn and jumps in a van bound for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham.
He and a corps of volunteer drivers were among the community members recognized Tuesday at an awards ceremony for Carteret County's Veterans Transportation Network.
The drivers were presented with the President's Volunteer Service Award given through the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. Included with the certificates were letters of congratulations signed by President George W. Bush and pins for those who had logged a certain amount of volunteer hours.
Rowlette said the true honorees are the passengers he carries to Durham for medical care.
"How could I not?" Rowlette responded when asked why he began driving for the program that helps ensure that Carteret County veterans can get to the VA Medical Center in Durham for the medical care they might not otherwise get due to a lack of transportation.
Rowlette is a veteran himself but said he is "luckier" than some and he drives to help others.
"People say we're heroes but we're not the heroes, they are," he said.
Larry Wexler of Newport, also a veteran, would agree.
"I'm just honored that I'm able to do it for them," said Wexler, who has been a volunteer driver since the program began in the county.
Sandy Magaw of Cape Carteret isn't a veteran but her husband is, and she saw the program as a way to give back to other veterans.
"I just thought it was a great thing they were doing and there is no reason I can't give a little of my time," she said. "The guys are so appreciative."
To date, the team of drivers has driven more than 140,000 miles, logged more than 4,000 volunteer hours and carried more than 1,060 veterans to needed specialty care at the VA Medical Center in Durham.
"Seeing them return from their long journey is a daily reminder of what this is all about," said Carteret County Veterans Services Officer Hank Gotard. "It's about our community, which is a glittering example of a community coming together, making a difference and serving a greater cause than ourselves. It's all about the American spirit."
Carteret County's Veterans Transportation Network emerged from an even larger effort in the county to bring health care closer to veterans of eastern North Carolina.
For eight years, the county veterans' office and partners solicited support for a local VA clinic that could provide primary care for area veterans. Elected officials at the local, state and national level supported the efforts and the Department of North Carolina American Legion stepped up for the cause along with Congressman Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Charles Smith, director of the N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs.
The efforts were rewarded in December 2003 with the opening of a VA primary care clinic in Morehead City, which now sees more than 3,000 veterans.
"With the clinic here, we thought our mission was accomplished and that our work was done," Gotard laughed.
Instead, it proved to open the door to another need.
The clinic created a significant need for transportation to the VA Medical Center in Durham for referrals and specialty care.
In June 2006, Carteret County was invited by the VA Medical Center in Durham to participate in a pilot program to determine if a county Veterans' Services Office could effectively operate within the framework of the VA's Volunteer Transportation Network.
With the support of county officials, the Carteret County VSO set to work implementing plans for the program.
The office staff has been called the "nuts and bolts" of operations but Gotard said the community has come together to make it all possible, from the volunteer drivers to the financial and other support provided by veterans' organizations, the business community and local individuals.
The program, which began with a van that already had nearly 100,000 miles on it, now has two new vans in service after fundraising efforts that included major contributions from the Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative Foundation, the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, and World War II veteran and longtime American Legion member V.J. "Puck" O'Neal of Morehead City.
For O'Neal, the reason for supporting Carteret County's Veterans Transportation Network was simple.
"If not for these people, there are veterans that would not be able to get to the hospital," he said.
Joining in Tuesday's event were state and national representatives from the American Legion and Military Order of the Purple Heart, organizations that have been key players in Carteret County's efforts to meet the needs of its veterans.
"All your efforts will improve the lives of many citizens in your community, in your state, and this country," said Dellano Simmons, national vice commander for the American Legion.
Carteret County's program has been held up as a model for other communities to follow.
"I hope this will become contagious and will be done across the state," Smith said.
North Carolina has a large number of veterans older than age 65 as well as veterans from wars from Afghanistan and Iraq who need medical care, he said.
Jones said the country has an obligation to take care of those who have served their country.
"I want the next president to know that our obligation is to those who served their nation," he said. "Our obligation is to those who have been wounded and there are going to be many challenges."
Staff writer Jannette Pippin can be reached at jpippin@freedomenc.com or 910-382-2557.
Ellie
Comments | Recommend
November 27, 2008 - 7:50 PM
JANNETTE PIPPIN
ATLANTIC BEACH - A couple times a month, Jim Rowlette of Newport rises before dawn and jumps in a van bound for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham.
He and a corps of volunteer drivers were among the community members recognized Tuesday at an awards ceremony for Carteret County's Veterans Transportation Network.
The drivers were presented with the President's Volunteer Service Award given through the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. Included with the certificates were letters of congratulations signed by President George W. Bush and pins for those who had logged a certain amount of volunteer hours.
Rowlette said the true honorees are the passengers he carries to Durham for medical care.
"How could I not?" Rowlette responded when asked why he began driving for the program that helps ensure that Carteret County veterans can get to the VA Medical Center in Durham for the medical care they might not otherwise get due to a lack of transportation.
Rowlette is a veteran himself but said he is "luckier" than some and he drives to help others.
"People say we're heroes but we're not the heroes, they are," he said.
Larry Wexler of Newport, also a veteran, would agree.
"I'm just honored that I'm able to do it for them," said Wexler, who has been a volunteer driver since the program began in the county.
Sandy Magaw of Cape Carteret isn't a veteran but her husband is, and she saw the program as a way to give back to other veterans.
"I just thought it was a great thing they were doing and there is no reason I can't give a little of my time," she said. "The guys are so appreciative."
To date, the team of drivers has driven more than 140,000 miles, logged more than 4,000 volunteer hours and carried more than 1,060 veterans to needed specialty care at the VA Medical Center in Durham.
"Seeing them return from their long journey is a daily reminder of what this is all about," said Carteret County Veterans Services Officer Hank Gotard. "It's about our community, which is a glittering example of a community coming together, making a difference and serving a greater cause than ourselves. It's all about the American spirit."
Carteret County's Veterans Transportation Network emerged from an even larger effort in the county to bring health care closer to veterans of eastern North Carolina.
For eight years, the county veterans' office and partners solicited support for a local VA clinic that could provide primary care for area veterans. Elected officials at the local, state and national level supported the efforts and the Department of North Carolina American Legion stepped up for the cause along with Congressman Walter Jones, R-N.C., and Charles Smith, director of the N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs.
The efforts were rewarded in December 2003 with the opening of a VA primary care clinic in Morehead City, which now sees more than 3,000 veterans.
"With the clinic here, we thought our mission was accomplished and that our work was done," Gotard laughed.
Instead, it proved to open the door to another need.
The clinic created a significant need for transportation to the VA Medical Center in Durham for referrals and specialty care.
In June 2006, Carteret County was invited by the VA Medical Center in Durham to participate in a pilot program to determine if a county Veterans' Services Office could effectively operate within the framework of the VA's Volunteer Transportation Network.
With the support of county officials, the Carteret County VSO set to work implementing plans for the program.
The office staff has been called the "nuts and bolts" of operations but Gotard said the community has come together to make it all possible, from the volunteer drivers to the financial and other support provided by veterans' organizations, the business community and local individuals.
The program, which began with a van that already had nearly 100,000 miles on it, now has two new vans in service after fundraising efforts that included major contributions from the Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative Foundation, the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, and World War II veteran and longtime American Legion member V.J. "Puck" O'Neal of Morehead City.
For O'Neal, the reason for supporting Carteret County's Veterans Transportation Network was simple.
"If not for these people, there are veterans that would not be able to get to the hospital," he said.
Joining in Tuesday's event were state and national representatives from the American Legion and Military Order of the Purple Heart, organizations that have been key players in Carteret County's efforts to meet the needs of its veterans.
"All your efforts will improve the lives of many citizens in your community, in your state, and this country," said Dellano Simmons, national vice commander for the American Legion.
Carteret County's program has been held up as a model for other communities to follow.
"I hope this will become contagious and will be done across the state," Smith said.
North Carolina has a large number of veterans older than age 65 as well as veterans from wars from Afghanistan and Iraq who need medical care, he said.
Jones said the country has an obligation to take care of those who have served their country.
"I want the next president to know that our obligation is to those who served their nation," he said. "Our obligation is to those who have been wounded and there are going to be many challenges."
Staff writer Jannette Pippin can be reached at jpippin@freedomenc.com or 910-382-2557.
Ellie