Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 13, 1992 TAG: 9202120049
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-12 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
VETS WANT A FLAGPOLE SO THEY CAN SEE MORE SALUTERS
They want a flagpole.Steve Perkins, who wrecked his back jumping out of an airplane; Leonard Yates, who got in the way of an airplane propeller; Bernard Bays, who had a ship blown out from under him.
"I was shot once in the back," said Patrick Rossi, 60, a Korean War veteran and commander of Disabled American Veterans chapter 29 in Christiansburg. "Once in the leg. One lung is gone."
For good measure, Rossi found construction work stateside - and fell off a three-story building.
Perkins, Yates, Bays, Rossi - together with their fellow DAV members, have served in three wars and in Lebanon.
They are American war heroes, with their limps and their aches and their canes.
But they can't afford a flagpole.
A flagpole to draw attention to the DAV building could bring in new members, the veterans say - especially younger ones. The DAV is light on veterans of Vietnam.
There have been fund-raisers, of course - like the DAV pancake breakfast planned for Feb. 1. But that money goes to their charity work and for utility bills and upkeep on their building, Rossi said.
In addition, most of the aging DAV members are on Social Security or disability, he said - and haven't much left over for a flagpole.
It's a pity.
Because a flagpole and flag, say the vets, could help rally this aging outpost, where membership is dwindling. It's a monthly battle just to keep the lights on.
Officially, there are more than 600 members in the New River Valley chapter of the DAV, but only an aging handful is active.
Most of the rest don't come to meetings - or even know a local post exists.
The building on South Franklin Street in Christiansburg was built in 1980, its view obscured by a church.
Members fret that nobody even notices them there.
"I`ve heard people say they drove by and didn't even know it was here," Bays said.
Neither do they know what they're missing, members said.
DAV fund-raisers buy Christmas gifts and food baskets for needy veterans and their families. Nationally, the DAV is a useful lobbyist for the disabled vet as well.
Also, wheelchairs and crutches are available for the asking.
"All they have to do is call us and we'll bring that stuff," Rossi said.
More important could be the solace of finding kindred souls.
"It keeps us from going insane," said Perkins, a 33-year-old veteran of Beirut.
"Plus, I get to come out here and listen to the older members. You get to hear some good old stories and go home with a smile on your face. To me, it's just a blessing."
Rossi envisions a flagpole tall enough to stand above the building, so the wind can find it - say, maybe 18 feet. An all-weather American flag to go with it, maybe 4 by 6 feet. A light to come on at night and shine on the flag and then go off again in the morning. A brick foundation - about 3 by 3 feet, with some flowers in the middle.
About $300 for materials, all in all, for a pole and mortar and flag - and they'll put it up themselves, Rossi said.
"It would draw some attention to where our disabled veterans post is," Rossi said.
"Not only that, but it's just something that should be there. Something for disabled American veterans to remember. That the flag is still waving for us."