Veterans Volunteer Organization - VVO

07/05/2019

06/25/2019

This recent West Point graduate is Alex Idrache. He grew up in a slum in Haiti, and he tells the story of how U.S. soldiers were deployed to his neighborhood following the earthquake there several years ago. He says their presence was the first experience of "hope" he recalls in his childhood.

He remembers looking at his dad and asking him who the people were that were helping. His dad looked at him and said, "They are American soldiers." He looked back at his father and said, "One day, I will be an American soldier."

His father knew the situation in Haiti was unworkable and tried for several years to obtain a visa to come to the United States. After being denied for several years, he was finally granted a spot in Baltimore. He purchased a ticket on a boat for his family and left Haiti. They arrived and Alex, remembering his dream in the slum several years prior, looked for a way to join the U.S. Army. He found a national guard program that allowed him to join the Army in exchange for citizenship. He didn't hesitate.

After a series of fortunate occurrences, he was given one of the few spots at West Point for prior enlisted soldiers. Despite his severe lack of formal education, he graduated as an honor graduate (top 5% physically and academically) and the top student in the Physics Department. This picture was taken just prior to tossing his hat in the air, the realization of a dream that began 10 years ago in a slum in Port-au-Prince.

06/25/2019

Lance Corporal Brady A. Gustafson fought off nearly 100 Taliban fighters from the turret of an MRAP… after his leg was blown off.

In July 2008, the 21 year old Marine manned his M240B in the MRAP turret. The vehicle took point of a mounted column patrolling through Shewan, Afghanistan. Suddenly, a complex ambush hit the column from all around, initiated by an RPG aimed at Gustafson’s MRAP. The RPG penetrated the vehicle’s hull and detonating inside. Flames shot up through the turret, searing his face. He stood to take aim at the surrounding muzzle flashes, but his right leg buckled beneath him in excruciating pain. Gustafson looked down and found his leg mangled beyond recognition, with bone exposed and his booted foot dangling by a shred of muscle.

Despite the injury, Gustafson resumed shooting all around. As he fired, a Marine inside the MRAP applied a tourniquet to his leg. Gustafson finished a 200 round belt, loaded another, and returned to his war. An RPG struck the vehicle behind Gustafson, bursting it into flames. He shouted to the driver of the MRAP, who had just regained consciousness, to reverse direction. They pushed the flaming vehicle backward out of the kill zone, allowing the occupants to safely exit. Gustafson blew through another 200 rounds and reloaded once more before finally relenting to medical treatment and allowing another Marine to take over the turret. His fearless resolve and courageous initiative saved the column from destruction, and ensured not a single Marine was lost that day.

For his actions, LCpl Gustafson received the Navy Cross. He left the Marine Corps the following year as a Corporal.

06/19/2019

06/15/2019

"If they served for our country, we should step up for them," Rodney Smith Jr. said.

06/14/2019

We need your help, click the link below to help support the Veterans Volunteer Organization.

The Veterans Volunteer Organization assist, support, and advocates on behalf of Veterans, Military Personnel, and their Families nationwide. Connecting them with volunteer opportunities that support the communities in which they live and work.

06/09/2019

05/29/2019

This is a picture the military has never let anyone see until now.
This is a picture behind the scenes at Dover Air Force Base where the bodies of fallen soldiers are prepared for burial.
And that includes being properly dressed, all the way down to the smallest detail.

In this picture Staff Sgt. Miguel Deynes is making sure the uniform is just right for an army pilot recently killed in Afghanistan.

There is a very specific process once a fallen soldier is returned home.

The bodies are flown back to the U.S. on a cargo jet.
A team of service members wearing white gloves carries the coffins, covered with flags, to a white van that takes them to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner.

The remains are washed, the hands are scrubbed clean, and the hair is shampooed. If necessary bones are wired together and damaged tissue is reconstructed with flesh-toned wax.

Sometimes they will use photos, sometimes just intuition to recreate the wrinkles in faces, and the lines around the mouth or the corner of the eyes.

“It has to look normal, like someone who is sleeping.”

Once the body is ready then the uniform is prepared.
That includes putting medals in the proper order on the ribbon rack above the jacket’s breast pocket.

During the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 10 to 20 bodies were arriving every day.

The embalmers often worked all night to get the bodies home on time. That can take an emotional toll so the mortuary has a large gym so workers can blow off steam.

Many say they are haunted by how young the fallen soldiers are, and by how many of them leave behind small children.

That’s why Sgt. Deynes says they are advised not to do research into the backgrounds of the soldiers.

“If I knew the story of every individual who went through here, I would probably be in a padded cell.”

The dress uniform being prepared in this particular case will be in a closed casket.

Even so, it will be perfectly tailored, starched and pressed. Everything will be checked down to the last detail.

Sgt. Deynes says, “They’re (the family) not going to see it. I do it for myself. It’s more than an honor it’s a blessing to dress that soldier for the last time.”

This story was reported by James Dao of the New York Times.
The picture is by Ashley Gilbertson.