By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

A new local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America is reaching out to veterans across southern Maine to provide a community of fellowship.

Joe Armstrong, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1044, said the Sanford-based chapter wants to connect with Vietnam veterans to provide camaraderie and help them connect to services earned when they served in the war. 

The organization advocates on issues important to veterans; seeks full access to health care and to identify the full range of disabling injuries and illnesses incurred during service; seeks the fullest possible accounting of the country’s POW/MIAs; supports the next generation of war veterans; and serves the community. 

Vietnam Veterans of America is open to veterans who served between Aug. 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975. The Associates of Vietnam Veterans is open to family members and veterans who served outside those dates. The organization has more than 600 chapters across the country.

“We’re here to help Vietnam veterans and their families,” Armstrong said. “There are a lot of veterans who are not receiving the help they deserve.”

Armstrong said the group helps veterans connect with medical services they need to treat illnesses and injuries caused by the war. Through the Agent Orange Awareness Program, the group educates veterans and their families about exposure to Agent Orange, which Armstrong said causes a wide range of issues from cancer to birth defects. 

Armstrong said the chapter will host educational programs across southern Maine, including presentations on Agent Orange and a Korean War veteran from Maine who was a prisoner of war. 

The organization also supports other programs, including accounting for the 13 POW/MIAs from Maine who are still lost. The group also is reaching out to female veterans, who Armstrong said are the “most under-appreciated” veterans in the country.

The chapter has partnered with the State of Maine Division of Veterans Services to locate family members of veterans killed in action in Vietnam. The Gold Star Honorable Service Medal will be issued to immediate family members of the veteran, Armstrong said. 

Armstrong said the group also provides support for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and advocates for treatment of “invisible and delayed injuries of war.” 

Living with PTSD is a reality for membership committee chairman Russ Warriner of Saco. He served from 1967 to 1969 as a helicopter gunner in areas of intense fighting. Years after returning from the war, he was forced to deal with post-traumatic stress that left him unable to work. 

Writing his first book, “Empty Tubes and Back Seat Memories,” helped Warriner deal with post-traumatic stress and connect with other veterans. The book recounts his experiences as a 21-year-old U.S. Army door gunner flying in a helicopter with the Aerial Rocket Artillery.

“When I was first diagnosed with PTSD, I discovered that writing things down was making me feel better about myself,” Warriner said. 

Warriner’s unit had three minutes to respond by helicopter to areas that were in trouble and was used in place of conventional artillery because they could get closer to the enemy. He hung out of open helicopter doors to drop rockets and credits pilots with saving his life time and again. 

Armstrong said units like Warriner’s saved many lives and provided psychological lifts to soldiers who recognized the sound of arriving helicopters as a lifeline. 

“When I heard that whop-whop-whop sound, I knew help was coming,” Armstrong said. “The job that Russ and the crews did was nothing short of miraculous. They came into landing zones with heavy enemy fire. Those rockets saved many lives. They’re to be commended.” 

Warriner said he is overwhelmed by the gratitude veterans have expressed to helicopter crews. While writing his book, he reconnected with other veterans, a process he said helped with his recovery. He plans to write a second book that tells his story of dealing with PTSD. 

Warriner said he hopes people will take time to learn more about Vietnam veterans and their experiences.

“I think anyone who reads my book will come away with a better understanding of Vietnam than they ever had,” he said. 

Armstrong said that folds directly into the mission of Vietnam Veterans of America and personal goals of chapter members who want to make sure veterans are never forgotten. Many Vietnam veterans were not greeted or thanked when they returned from war, a mistake Armstrong said he and other veterans want to correct. 

“We go by the motto ‘never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another,’” Armstrong said. “Two of the smallest words you can say to a veteran that have the biggest meaning are ‘welcome home.’ That veteran will walk away feeling like a million dollars.” 

For more information about VVA or to provide contact information for families of veterans killed in action, call Joe Armstrong at 490-2094. For information about the VVA or “Empty Tubes and Back Seat Memories,” call Russ Warriner at 571-9196.

Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1044 meets at 1 p.m. on the first Sunday of the month at Sanford Elks Lodge, 12 Elm St. The group’s website is www.vva1044maine.org.