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Veterans

Samuel Green

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Samuel Green

Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Mr. Samuel Green. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

John Walker

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Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran John Walker. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Alan Green

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Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Alan Green. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Norton Davis, Part 3

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Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Norton Davis. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Norton Davis, Part 2

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Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Norton Davis. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Norton Davis, Part 1 of 3

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Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Norton Davis. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Ron Virgilio

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Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Ron Virgilio. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Military Appreciation in Myrtle Beach

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Celebrating Our Veterans During the Month of May and Beyond by Melissa LaScaleia May is Military Appreciation Month in Myrtle Beach. Every week and weekend sees a new event which celebrates and recognizes the service of present and former members of the military.  The City of Myrtle Beach as well as the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce sponsor all of the month’s proceedings, which are organized by a committee of veterans and veterans service organizations along the Grand Strand.  “Without news outlets, social media, and community events, veterans can get isolated,” says Chris Aranda, outreach specialist working for the Myrtle Beach Vet Center (one of the partnering service organizations), and himself, a U.S. Army retired combat veteran. “Events like those held throughout the month of May really helps us.”  After returning from a deployment in Iraq in 2004, Chris retired from military service before beginning his work with the Department of Veterans Affairs, at the Myrtle Beach Vet Center.  The Vet Center has been a valuable asset to the veteran community for six years; it provides readjustment counseling with a wide range of services offered to eligible veterans, active duty service members, and their families, in an effort to facilitate a successful transition from military to civilian life. Services offered at Vet Centers nationwide include: individual and group counseling for eligible veterans and service members; family counseling for military related issues; bereavement counseling; counseling and referral for those that experience a military sexual trauma; outreach; substance abuse assessment and referral; employment referral; referral to other VA services; and community education.  Today there are roughly three hundred Vet Centers across the country.  “We assist those suffering from PTSD, anxiety, depression, and readjustment issues,” Chris says. “We’re that focal point across the community— bringing awareness and connecting us all.  “I spent twenty years and a day in the Army, and when I did retire, I needed to be around veterans because I grew up, from the age of eighteen to thirty-eight, around a family of those who served. All I knew was soldiering.”  “My transition was difficult for me, I felt displaced,” he continues. “I thought: ‘What am I going to do?’ I was looking for that connection, and I found that connection when I began to again help veterans and their families across my community.”  Chris Aranda — Photo Meganpixels Parker “Suicide is very prevalent in the veterans’ community,” he adds. “With this work, you’re making a positive change of support in someone’s life today. I just returned from a training in Florida where one of my peers was struggling with his own demons and issues. But to be there together, and be around people who cared, it saved his life that weekend. That means something to me and my colleagues.” In his work with the Vet Center, Chris says he still sees WWII veterans who are struggling with PTSD.  “There are only one percent of us who wear the uniform across the country,” he says. “But it’s the other 99% across our country who welcome us, help us, and integrate us back into the community. We appreciate that the City of Myrtle Beach has given us the entire month of May for recognition of our service, and that month is special to us as a community— it unites us, and ties us to the community in which we live, and we all look forward to it. The City of Myrtle Beach is a special place to live because here veterans are recognized and honored.”  Here is this year’s lineup of events to celebrate the veterans in our community; everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.     On Saturday, May 4 at 9am, there will be a Junior ROTC Drill Competition for all of the Horry County high schools in the parking lot of the Pelican Stadium. This is a free event.  That evening, at 6pm, there is a Pelican’s baseball game held to honor all veterans. Veterans are free to attend; general admission $5.     On Friday, May 17, there will be a Vietnam Veterans Recognition and Welcome Home Ceremony from 1-3pm at the General Robert Reed Recreation Center in the Market Common.  Veterans need not pre-register— they will be identified as they enter.    “We are going to pin them and recognize them with a ceremony,” Chris says. “This is the 50th anniversary of their return home from Vietnam, and many of them were never properly welcomed home initially.”     Later that evening, the Pine Lakes International Country Club will host a formal event— the American Legion 100th Birthday Dinner at 5:30pm. Pre-registration is required.  The staff of the Myrtle Beach Vet Center on location. Front row from left to right: Chris Aranda, Terri Davis, and Tez Ortiz. Back row from left to right: Marcey Cates, Laura Cox, and Susan Toth. — Photo Meganpixels Parker On Thursday, May 23 at noon, the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) is sponsoring a golf tournament at the Heritage Golf Course in Pawleys Island. Pre-registration is required.  As a way to give back to the community, the Myrtle Beach Vet Center is holding a Community Picnic on Friday, May 24 at 11am on 21st Avenue and Robert Grissom Parkway. There will be a ceremonial flag presentation as well as food and drink.  The most well-known celebratory event, the Myrtle Beach Military Parade, will be held this year on Saturday, May 25, when fifty vehicles and floats will traverse down Howard Avenue in the Market Common amidst throngs of bystanders.  “It’s a very patriotic parade,” Chris says. “And very well attended.”  Each year, the committee selects two grand marshals for the parade— one celebrity and one local veteran. The grand marshals highlight the event and inspire people to attend and show their support.  Previous grand marshals included veterans: Montell Williams, the TV personality; J.R. Martinez, who was on Dancing With the Stars; Rocky Bleier, a Pittsburgh Steeler in the ’80s; and John Glenn, the astronaut.     “This year we have a very special celebrity grand marshal: Kerri Thomas— an Army Ranger and U.S. Iraqi … Read more

Treva Green

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Treva Green

Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Treva Green. Read all about her story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Frank Marshall, Part 2

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Take a moment to celebrate our Veteran Frank Marshall. Read all about his story on this months edition. Thank you for your service!

Bud Vernon Clark Shepard, Part 3 of 3

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Vietnam War Veteran and POW “Celebrate Our Veteran” gives voice to the stories of the U.S. military veterans living amongst us. The actions of these brave and dedicated people, who have served our country both in active military duty as well as administrative positions, have and continue to contribute to the protection and preservation of us and our country.  We hope that this section of our paper is an opportunity for our community to hear and see veterans with new eyes, and for veterans to receive recognition and honor for their experiences and life journeys.  This month’s Celebrate Our Veteran recounts the story of Bud Vernon Clark Shepherd, as told in his own words. This is the final chapter of a three-part series, continued from last month. Click here to read part 2. Click here to read part 1.  by Melissa LaScaleia “Then they took me over to a hole in the ground that was about eighteen inches by eighteen inches,” Bud says. “And the next thing you know, a doctor came out of this hole. He looked at my wound in my buttocks and he had this huge hypodermic needle and mo­tioned me to bend over.  “I didn’t know what he was going to do, but to my relief, he began squirting the wound; then they took me into the hole which was an underground hospi­tal. While I was in there, they bandaged it up they best it could. And then took me back, blindfolded me and tied me up again. “After being with the North Vietnamese for a time, I grew to respect them a lot. They used their resources to the max. If we threw a tire or a can away, they’d find a use for it. They were very resourceful with what they had. They didn’t waste anything.  “They eventually brought us to a jungle camp, where they shackled us and put us in a human-sized cage. We were fed very min­imally, and only twice a day. Jim and I were in the camp by ourselves for a couple of days before they also found the two others from the COBRA. We were there for a week, and during that time they’d take us one-by-one into the jungle and ask us questions. “One day, they took the two who were less wounded away. They could walk and I found out later, they ended up being in a prison camp in Cambodia for six months, and then Hanoi, where they were prisoners for three years. But because another of my comrades Pete couldn’t walk and travel, and because I couldn’t walk as well as the others and was also the lowest ranking one amongst us, I was left behind to care for him. Bud Shepard, today in Myrtle Beach. — Photo Meganpixels Parker “During our time in the cage, a couple of South Vietnamese POW soldiers who were with us, escaped and they never found them. Be­cause the North Vietnamese couldn’t find them, they had to evacuate the camp— else the risk of discovery was too high. “So we were prisoners of war for 38 days. They put Pete in a hammock and carried him. The first night, they tied us up to a tree and left us there. We thought that they had abandoned us. “In point of fact, they had decided to let us go. They told us that they were going to release us for humanitarian reasons. I think that they sensed that if they didn’t release us, we were going to die. So prior to our release, we had to first write a statement that we were crimi­nals, had invaded their country, and were the enemy. They signified our release with a cer­emony to make it official. “They hung the North Vietnamese flag in the jungle from the trees and built a bamboo po­dium. They shamed us a bit, and kept saying we were criminals. Then they gave us clean North Vietnamese uniforms to wear, and gave us detailed directions for the terms of our release.  “A few hours beforehand, they had released two South Vietnamese prisoners and gave them directions to an American fire base. They gave us directions to a road and told us when we reached it to lay down in it. The South Vietnamese prisoners were instructed to send an unarmed jeep to come and pick us up in the road. These were the terms of our release. Our prison guards warned us they would be watching us from the jungle, and that if anything went wrong, they would shoot us on the spot. Then they let us go. Bud still keeps the North Vietnamese uniform that the North Vietnamese soldiers gave him as well as some other items he had with him as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. “So I trudged out of there, carrying Pete to the road. When we reached the road, I laid Pete down in it and sat beside him. We must have been close to a village, because there were people walking by, and bicycling by us. “And while we’re out in the road, a South Vietnamese patrol came by and they saw we weren’t the enemy, and they start circling around us, trying to protect us. And there was no way for us to tell them to stop. We were worried they were going to get us killed. “Luckily Pete got their radio which was tuned to the frequency of the fire base, and told them the South Vietnamese soldiers should be arriving to the base soon with instructions about how to retrieve us. “So finally the soldiers left. And we’re just laying in the road as people walk and bicycle by us. Finally a jeep came, driven by a sol­dier from the fire base and loaded us in. And on our way to the fire base, we saw the two South Vietnamese who were in charge of our safe transfer— they had taken off first chance they got without a care … Read more

Bud Vernon Clark Shepard, Part 1 of 3

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Bud Shepard

Vietnam War Veteran and POW “Celebrate Our Veteran” gives voice to the stories of the U.S. military veterans living amongst us. The actions of these brave and dedicated people, who have served our country both in active military duty as well as administrative positions, have and continue to contribute to the protection and preservation of us and our country.  We hope that this section of our paper is an opportunity for our community to hear and see veterans with new eyes, and for veterans to receive recognition and honor for their experiences and life journeys.  This month’s “Celebrate Our Veteran” recounts the story of POW veteran Bud Vernon Clark Shepard as told in his own words. This is the first of a three-part series. Click here to read part 2.  by Melissa LaScaleia “Bud Shepard was born in Akron, Ohio on July 19, 1948. In 1967, at the age of nineteen, he was drafted for Vietnam. He had been working construction jobs every summer throughout high school, and that summer, he was working as a brick mason.  “When I got the draft notice,” Bud says, “I thought that if I could go into the army as a brick layer, it would be more beneficial for both me and the army.” The only caveat was that Bud would have to enlist, which would be a three year term, as opposed to a two year draft. He decided to take his chances, and enlisted as a brick layer. He was sent to Fort Leonardwood, Missouri for advanced training. But when he arrived, instead of enrolling him in masonry school, they sent him to learn carpentry. He was none too thrilled, but finished at the top of his class. When he completed training, they didn’t have any need for carpenters or bricklayers, so they sent him to Fort Knox, Kentucky, where he was assigned to an armored cavalry unit, the 194th Armored Brigade. “I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Bud says. “Now I have a three year term, and I’m not doing what I enlisted for. They assigned me to a tank unit. There was a new tank coming out, called the M551, the Sheridan. And I was selected to field test and be part of the evaluation team for this tank that had a laser beam missile in it that could shoot a fly off an apple. I started out as a tank driver, then I became a tank gunner, and finally, a tank commander.” Bud Shepard at the age of 19, when he first entered the army. Bud was asked to select his preferences for where he wanted to carry out his term of service. For his domestic choice, he selected Hawaii. For his foreign choice, he selected Vietnam. “I wanted to go to war,” he says. “I wanted to experience that. I didn’t want to get sent to Germany. I was looking for excitement. Since I volunteered, naturally they would take me.” Bud returned home and married his girlfriend at the age of nineteen, before he was sent to Vietnam.  “I didn’t want her to leave me,” he says with a chuckle, “so I decided to marry her.” Bud was assigned to a helicopter unit, the B Troop 7/17 Air Cavalry unit. He was initially assigned to the mail room. The presiding commander looked at Bud’s personal record, saw he was a decent soldier, and wanted him to chauffeur the colonel around the base and work in the office. Bud was eager for excitement though. He didn’t want to be a colonel’s orderly.  He approached the captain to ask for a change of scenery. “I said to him, ‘I really came over here to fight a war.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘We have these jobs called aero scouts. But you can’t be assigned as one, you have to volunteer.’ I didn’t know what an aero scout was, but I volunteered. “I soon found out why you had to volunteer; your likelihood of surviving the duration of the war in this position was slim. Aero scouts flew a helicopter called a L-O-H, a light observation helicopter, which can fly slow and low to the ground. Only two people could fit in one, a pilot and a co-pilot observer. “I was trained as a pilot too, in case the pilot was shot. Our job was to fly at treetop level and try to find the enemy. Flying at that height, you could usually see the smoke from their campfire cooking, or different things they left behind. We flew in teams of two, one helicopter at treetop, and the other higher up for protection— then we’d switch.  “If we found them, we’d radio in the information and within minutes, a COBRA, a giant gun ship that is very fast and cannot fly low, would come in and annihilate the area. We were called the hunter-killer team. We acted as the scalp hunters, and the COBRAs were called the undertakers. This was the only way to find the enemy, because there is so much canopy in that country, they were very well hidden. The smoke in this aerial photograph was captured on camera from a distance. It is from Bud’s helicopter the day that it was shot and failing in Vietnam. “So it was highly risky and you never knew what to expect. The enemy knew if they shot at us that would give their position away, and then we’d call in the heavy guns. But if they knew we saw them, and we were so close at times we made eye contact with them, then they’d open fire. We’d often get back to our camp and see bullet holes in our helicopter that we hadn’t noticed. “You have to be a little bit of an adrenaline junkie to do this. I actually really enjoyed it. You could quit at any time, on the spot. I did it for four months. I could see monkeys in the treetops jumping up and … Read more

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