Local Vietnam vets organization commemorates 25th anniversary
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Jack Crowther (right), secretary of Chapter 1 of the Vietnam Veterans of America addresses a group at a 2003 ceremony at Main Street Park in Rutland to add 18 new names to the Vietnam Memorial as treasurerAndy Megrath (to the left of Jack) installs the newly updated list of names. Other veterans from left to right are: David Beard, Dave Mathis, Edgar "Bub" Crosby, and Leo Bathalon. JON OLENDER / RUTLAND HERALD |
Toolbox
By Gordon Dritschilo Herald Staff - Published: April 15, 2005
Adrian Megrath said he was never interested in joining a veteran's group.
Today, he is president of the Rutland County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America — the first chapter of the national organization — and will preside over the group's 25th anniversary dinner Saturday.
Megrath said VVA was born out of the sense of alienation felt by a number of Vietnam veterans returning home to the United States.
"We didn't get treated all that well when we got back from Vietnam," he said. "We got looked at as the troublemakers of that particular time period. I'm glad the people coming back now aren't getting treated like we got treated."
Prior to 1980, Megrath said VVA was a loosely organized group, but that changed when founder Bobby Muller met with Rutland veteran Don Bodette. Bodette, who died of cancer in 1997 at the age of 48, was inspired by the idea of an organization for Vietnam veterans, but felt it needed to follow a local-chapter model.
"Because the guys here wanted to have a chapter, it forced the issue in Washington that they had to start a national organization," Megrath said.
Chapter 1 of the VVA received its charter in Rutland on April 13, 1980. Today, the group has 525 chapters with 50,000 members. Seven of the chapters are in Vermont. The Rutland County chapter has 126 members from all over — 43 Vermont communities, 18 other states, England, Germany Paraguay and Guam, according to Megrath.
"For some of these folks in different areas, it's more the prestige of being in Chapter 1," Megrath said.
Megrath was with the Army in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. He said he served as an artillery surveyor. His job was determining the exact map co-ordinates of an artillery base, ensuring accuracy of fire once the guns were in place.
When he came home, he took a job at General Electric, where he continues to work as a tool maker.
"I was very fortunate to get a job at GE," he said. "When I applied, it was when a lot of industries in Vermont here hiring Vietnam vets. There was some benefit the federal government was giving them."
Megrath said he was eventually convinced by friends to sit in on a VVA meeting.
"I had the same opinion a lot of people had," he said. "A lot of people don't belong because they think all we do when we get together is talk about the war. It's not true. We're very community-oriented. We give to the Boys & Girls Club, the Dodge House. We've given to other individuals in the community who need something."
Recently, the VVA has worked with other organizations helping the families of local reservists and Guardsmen deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Eighteen people from Rutland County died in Vietnam, and the Rutland County Vietnam Honor Roll bears 270 names.
"You have to remember that the draft was in place at that time and we lost a lot of people," Megrath said. "The war went on for quite a period of time over there and there were a lot of people involved. I think if you went to just about any other community, you'd see they had a lot of people there, too."
The group has strict standards for who is added to the list.
"You have to have served in country," Megrath said. "We have a few belligerent people who get mad at us because they figure since they served during the Vietnam era, they should've gotten on it. You also have to have entered the service from Rutland County."
Megrath said service records are checked before anyone is added. Twenty-six names are being added to the list this year.
At the dinner at The Palms in Rutland Saturday, Megrath said roughly 90 people would be in attendance, including members, other local veterans and people from the area. Guest speakers include VVA national president Thomas Corey and Gov. James Douglas.
The dinner will also include a tribute to Lt. Col. Mark Truhan. A founding member of the group, Truhan is on active duty with the Army Reserve, training Iraqi military officers.
Megrath, starting his second term as the chapter's president, said he is glad he overcame his initial misgivings.
"It's allowed me to get involved with some of the other guys who were over there," he said. "There's a camaraderie. We were all in the came situation. It helps … I guess I'll just leave it at that."
Contact Gordon Dritschilo at gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com.
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