Friendly competition between veterans

Members of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Boulder County are holding a drive to help the OUR Center in Longmont.

The event is leading up to Armed Forces Day, which celebrates all branches of our military. This year it will be observed on May 20, always the third Saturday in May.

The drive is from noon to 4 p.m. on May 20 at Shoes and Brews, 63 S. Pratt Parkway in Longmont.

Senior Vice-Commander John Reid of MOPH Chapter 434 and fellow veterans are having a “Battle of the Branches,” where people who donate can pick which armed service branch they want their donation to go towards.

At the end, they will weigh all donations. Each branch will get one point per pound of non-perishable food, and two points for every dollar of monetary donations. Clothes are also accepted and add to the branch’s total.

The winner will be announced around 5 p.m., along with the raffle drawing.

Reid, who served six years in the Marines, said that it’s a friendly competition, and that seeing homeless veterans in Boulder County made MOPH want to do something more locally.

“We wanted to create an event to get us all together,” Reid said. “We wanted to take (Veteran’s Day and Armed Forces Day) and combine the two together.”

So they teamed up with OUR Center, an organization that helped 16,000 households last year alone.

“The homeless veteran population has kind of been forgotten about over the last few years,” Reid said. “It seems like everyone focuses on post-traumatic stress or brain injuries — and rightfully so, they’re both very important issues — but we’re trying to cover all bases as far as caring for veterans goes.”

He said that homelessness among veterans is on the rise, and something as simple as a food and clothing drive can at least make a difference.

“It needs to be more on our radar,” Reid said. “Because one homeless veteran is too many in my opinion. So we are trying to make an effort to get the spotlight back on them.”

The OUR Center also provides programs that help the homeless find jobs and permanent housing.

“They’re a one-stop shop for everyone and they’re trying to get people back on their feet,” Reid said. “So I thought it was a worthy cause. It’s nice to be able to team up with another non-profit that’s trying to make a difference.”

Reid said he was introduced to MOPH by a Korean War veteran, and said that the group has soldiers who earned their Purple Heart in WWII.

“We’ve all bled somehow on the battlefield,” Reid said. “We’re just a group of guys who are combat-wounded that come together to help each other out and help others at the same time.”

Over the years, whether one calls it “shell-shock,” “battle fatigue” or the most current PTSD, young men and women who come home injured from war have challenges to face that many of us will never know.

“We’re all kind of broken in our own way,” Reid said. “That’s a bad way to put it, but we are. We’re just trying to show the community that as a veteran, the more you help the community, the more you help yourself.”

Reid served in the Marine Corps for six years. He earned his Purple Heart during his third deployment to Afghanistan and is now medically retired from the Corps.

“We were about two months into the deployment,” Reid said. “We were out on a security patrol that day and I was the squad leader. I took one of my teams out to an area, we were engaged in an ‘L-shaped’ ambush.

“During the ambush there was a lot going on, but the short of it is that I took a bullet in my arm from a Taliban medium machine gun. It basically shattered all of the bones in my arm. It’s still functional, I’m missing a few pieces and gained a few more metal pieces.”

The result is six metal plates and 30 screws in his arm.

“I was one of the luckier ones,” Reid said. “A lot of guys come back missing limbs. I got pretty beat up from that shot, but still lucky as far as combat injuries go.”

He said that coming back to the States can be a difficult transition, specifically for those who were wounded physically.

“Especially with veterans — we’re a stubborn group — we could be in the desert and desperate thirsty but won’t ask for a drink of water,” Reid said. “So it’s very important for any group to make an effort to reach out to these guys. Sometimes they will come around if someone extends a hand. But for the most part, the majority of us will never ask for help. We will struggle through it and take it to the grave with us.

“It’s very important for groups like OUR Center and MOPH to reach out. They really strive to reach out and help bring back independence. They’re not a soup kitchen, they help get people back in the work force. That’s why groups like us are here, to help those people out who need it.”

As for the “Battle of the Branches,” Reid said it’s all in good fun, and a great way to get everyone together. The winner will get bragging rights for the next year.

“One of the things we love most in the military is that we like to give each other a hard time,” Reid said. “But we love that competitive spirit that we all have. That’s what drives us, makes us volunteer to help. We take care of our own.

“Armed Forces Day is a day for everyone from different branches to come out and help each other. We’re happy to help the community too, we think that’s important as well.”

Reid and MOPH have hopes that they can use this event as a springboard to continue helping veterans in need.

“Our goal in the future is to team up with more non-profits like the OUR center,” Reid said. “We hope to expand into other counties in the area too, but this is the first step in the process.”

The best way to find up-to-date information on the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart is on their Facebook page. There are also chapters in Denver and Aurora.

Information on the OUR Center can be found at http://www.ourcenter.org.