Veterans of Foreign Wars
The VFW is the traces its roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service: Many arrived home wounded or sick. There was no medical care or veterans' pension for them, and they were left to care for themselves.
The VFW's voice had been instrumental in establishing the Veterans Administration, creating a GI Bill for the 20th century, the development of the national cemetery system and the fight for compensation for Vietnam vets exposed to Agent Orange and for veterans diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome. The VFW also has fought for improving VA medical centers services for women veterans.
To be eligible to join, one must be a U.S. citizen who has served honorably in an overseas conflict; received a campaign medal for overseas service; served 30 consecutive or 60 non-consecutive days in Korea; or received hostile fire or imminent danger pay.
The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. It is the nation's largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in their communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to fellow service members and veterans.
The American Legion is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization with great political influence perpetuated by its grass-roots involvement in the legislation process from local districts to Capitol Hill. Legionnaires' sense of obligation to community, state and nation drives an honest advocacy for veterans in Washington. The Legion stands behind the issues most important to the nation's veterans community, backed by resolutions passed by volunteer leadership.
To be eligible to join, one must have served federal active duty in the United States Armed Forces during any of the war eras including Persian Gulf/War on Terrorism, Panama, Lebanon/Grenada; Vietnam; Korea; World War I; World War II; and have been honorably discharged or are still serving.
Disabled American Veterans
DAV is a nonprofit charity that provides a lifetime of support for veterans of all generations and their families, helping more than 1 million veterans in positive, life-changing ways each year. The organization provides more than 700,000 rides for veterans attending medical appointments and assists veterans with more than 300,000 benefit claims annually. In 2015, DAV helped attain more than $4 billion in new and retroactive benefits to care for veterans, their families and survivors.
DAV is also a leader in connecting veterans with meaningful employment, hosting job fairs and providing resources to ensure they have the opportunity to participate in the American Dream their sacrifices have made possible.
To be eligible to join, one must have served in the armed forces during a period of war or under conditions simulating war, and was wounded, disabled to any degree, or left with long-term illness as a result of military service, and was discharged or retired from military service under honorable conditions.
— Information provided by www.vfw.org; www.legion.org; and www.dav.org.
U.S. Army veteran George Knox worked to save the lives and improve the health of several men, women and children during the Vietnam War, but he was treated equally as poorly as all troops were when they returned to the United States.
He was sent to Vietnam on Dec. 1, 1970, where he spent a year working with patients who had malaria and suffered heart attacks and drug overdoes.
When he returned to U.S. soil a year later, he and his comrades were instructed to change from their uniforms into civilian clothes before going home because their reception was not a welcoming.
"I had just missed the flight from San Francisco to Denver, so I had to stay overnight in San Francisco, and I had to change into civilian clothes to keep from getting spit on," Knox recalled. "They called us baby killers and everything."
He said even some of the WWII veterans were against those who served in Vietnam for a long time.
"When I joined the (Veterans of Foreign Wars), I did not let them know that I was a Vietnam veteran," Knox said. "I joined the VFW under my service in Lebanon in 1958."
Knox, 80, said it wasn't until about the 1980s when attitudes finally started turning around.
He has been active in the VFW and has helped start three posts, including one in Westcliffe, and he's a member of the American Legion.
With a long lineage of family members who served in the Civil War, Revolutionary War, Korea, the first and second World Wars and Vietnam, joining the military was a natural fit for Knox. During his 20 years in the service, his main job was serving as a medic, but his passion was working with the tanks.
Knox graduated from Florence High School in 1955, but he was still in high school when he joined the U.S. Navy Reserves. He spent three years in the Reserves before receiving a discharge to go directly into the U.S. Army.
At the age of 19, he was shipped to Germany, where he spent three years. During that time, he was with a tank battalion that spent four months in Lebanon during the 1958 Lebanon crisis.
When he returned to Germany, they discovered some of their road tanks had been sabotaged by some of the Lebanese with hand grenades.
"If we'd have moved them without inspecting them, it would have blown the tank up," Knox said. "We had to be really careful when we got back about explosives, our tracks and our road vehicles."
He served with the 510th tank battalion, a subunit of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, a segregated African-American unit.
"When I went there, they were integrating the unit from being all black to white and black together," he said. "I had no problems with it, a lot of people didn't have any problems with it."
When they went out socially, however, the blacks and whites had their own areas of town in which to socialize.
"Duty wise, we were just one big family," Knox said. "We had white officers and black officers — they all had to integrate."
He returned home to Florence in 1960 and went to work at the Pueblo steel mill before employees went on strike. Later that year, he married his wife, Alice, and then re-enlisted in the Army.
He was stationed at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Denver, earned his licensed practical nurse license and was moved to a hospital in California.
During his career, he cared for people during a meningitis outbreak, worked in surgical wards, helped rehabilitate amputees coming back from Vietnam, worked in an active tuberculosis ward and a cardiac ward, worked as a dialysis tech, was in charge of an artificial kidney team, worked as a surgical supervisor and helped open a brand new 500-bed hospital.
While in Vietnam, he treated soldiers and civilians with a variety of injuries and ailments.
"We had Thai soldiers, we had Viet Cong, we had a lot of the ladies on dialysis, we treated all branches of the service — Cambodia, Thailand, soldiers from Vietnam, South Vietnamese, Australia — we worked with anybody. In the medical field, no matter who it was, you took care of them."
Some were active enemies who needed care.
"As far as I could tell, a human being is a human being," Knox said. "That is what we were supposed to do."
He was injured in Vietnam during a rocket attack when an oxygen tank dropped on his back.
When he returned to the U.S., he again spent his time between Colorado and California hospitals.
He was working in maternal health care in 1976 when the Army was told it must make abortions available. Because he was the only non-Catholic supervisor (he was Protestant), he was responsible for setting up the abortion program, alongside a colonel.
"We had no choice," he said. "When you take the oath for your job description, you had to do it. You had to do what you had to do, and you didn't complain about it."
He retired in 1977 from Fort Carson and then went to school and earned a degree as diesel mechanic and heavy truck mechanic.
"I enjoyed motor maintenance more than I did the medical field," Knox said. "When I got out of the army, I wanted to be a truck driver."
However, with a wife and three children at home, being on the road full-time wasn't an option.
He tried to use his "hip pocket orders" to go back to active duty when the Gulf War started in 1990, but at age 54, he was too old for acceptance.
Today, Knox and his wife are active supporters of the local Parents of Military — Fremont County group that organizes shipper ceremonies for young people leaving to basic training for all branches of the military and helps to collect and mail holiday care packages to more than 60 local service personnel.
On behalf of the Westcliffe VFW, serving as the post quartermaster, Knox presents each shipper with a $20 bill, stationary and postage and candy to take with them on the first leg of their journey.
"It's important to me because when I went into the service, I didn't have any support at all," he said of the ceremonies. "We should recognize these kids that are going in to the military, we shouldn't wait until after they get back, we should support our young people instead of trying to get them to support us when they get out."
Carie Canterbury: 719-276-7643, email@example.com