Michigan Veterans Home - WKTV Journal

By Deborah Reed

WKTV Managing Editor

Veterans gathered for a screening of Our Trip on Feb. 1 at the Grand Rapids Michigan Veteran Homes (MVH).

Our Trip follows 12 Vietnam veterans back to Vietnam in 1995. Using WKTV Community Media facilities, Vietnam veteran Tom Sibley produced the 40-minute video with footage and photographs taken by the returning veterans and Grand Rapids Press staff that accompanied them. Recorded interviews with participants after the trip were also included.

The Our Trip experience

After a brief history of the United States involvement in Vietnam, the video combines the veterans’ wartime experiences via the various stages of the trip. Sibley said the trip was special and inspiring, but all veterans were “amazed by the warm welcome and friendliness of the people we met.”

The trip included a search for the helicopter crash site that killed pilot Floyd Olsen, a friend of one of the trip veterans. The crash site was located near the village of Hong Ha. Friends and relatives of Olsen later built a medical clinic at the village.

A visit to an orphanage found the veterans interacting with the children and then painting the orphanage. A year later, one of the veterans and his wife completed an adoption of two girls he met while at the orphanage.

Meaning, healing, and peace

Approximately 90 were in attendance for the video showing. James Smither, GVSU Veterans History Project Director, provided historical background and invited those in attendance to share their stories.

“Several of the veterans discussed how their faith had helped them get through their war experiences and make peace with them,” Smither told WKTV.

Showing the video at the MVH allowed residents to participate, Sibley said. Smither added that it brought an audience of people who had not seen it before.

“Many of them were Vietnam veterans, and two of them were in the video and had never seen it,” said Smither. “The video also says a lot about the Vietnam experience and what it means to be a veteran, so it was an appropriate venue. We drew a good crowd, and they clearly appreciated the video.”

After the video, all were invited for a social time with cake and coffee prepared by Connie Ceton and MVH staff.

MVH Volunteer Coordinator Gretchen Muir and Activity Director Becky Smit organized the event.

By K.D. Norris

ken@wktv.org

Cindy Obetts and Calvin Weeks are the drummers for two local classic rock ‘n’ roll bands – The 6 Pak and The Guiness Brothers Band, respectively – and they are also big believers in drumming up support for the area’s military veterans, especially the Grand Rapids Veterans Home.

So, after a successful first attempt putting on a benefit night of music last year with the assistance of the Wyoming Knights of Columbus, it is only keeping the beat that the two bands will be on stage again Veterans Day night for the second year of “A 6 Pak of Guinness” and continuing to support America’s heroes.

“A 6 Pak of Guinness,” a fundraiser for the Grand Rapids Veterans Home, will be held Friday, Nov. 11, from 7-11 p.m., at the Knights of Columbus #4362 hall, 5830 Clyde Park Ave. SW. The public is invited, but it is a 21 and older show. Doors open at 6 p.m. for best seating and dinner, if desired.

There is no cover, but a free will offering of support for the Veterans Home will be taken. There will also be food and libation available, as well as a 50-50 raffle and other raffles of donated items. (And they are still accepting donations of raffle items.)

“When we first talked about doing this, we thought ‘Let’s just donate the proceeds to a veterans organization,’” Obetts said this week. “But then we said ‘Hey, we have a group of veterans right here that we should be supporting.’

“We thought we’d make, like $1,000 last year, but we raised nearly $4,500,” she said. “The management of the home was very supportive, telling us we could designate the funds for whatever we wanted.”

Last year, and again this year, the proceeds will go for some “fun” activities the Veterans Home might not normally have funds to provide, such as ball games and fishing trips, Obetts said.

“Ironically, the simple pleasures in life like picnics, holiday parties, ice cream socials, are dependent on volunteer donations,” Rochelle Mudrey, also of The 6 Pak, said in supplied material. “Everyone needs to have some fun things to look forward to, and to share that joy with others. … As proud Americans and Michiganders we owe it to give back to those who stepped up and served our country on our behalf. This is our opportunity to do the right thing and say thank you for keeping us safe and free.”

Part of the reason for last year’s success, and the anticipation of another successful event, is the support of the Knights of Columbus and other community groups, according to Weeks, of The Guinness Brothers Band.

Lining up sponsors for last year’s event was the easy part, he said. Local business owners and other “movers and shakers” were anxious to get on board. Donors as diverse as the Cow Pie Music Festival, West Michigan Beer Distributing and Craig’s Cruisers “stepped up” to help make the event a success.

The musical schedule for the evening will have The 6 Pack bringing their 1960s-era music to the stage first, followed by the decade-spanning classic rock of The Guinness Brothers, with the two bands on stage for the final set of the evening. But the real star of the evening will be the people who turn out to support the cause.

“We live in a very generous community,” Mudrey said. “The Michigan Veterans Home is ours.”

For more information about the event, or to donate either items for raffle or to make a donation to the cause, call Obetts at 616-784-6389.