When Salvador Salinas
came back from combat service in Vietnam there were no bands or parades to meet him and his fellow vets.Instead, he was a part of that generation that met an indifferent nation torn apart by the controversial war. Older vets at the local veterans hall blamed the young guys for losing the war. Younger protesters called them baby killers.
The vets, many of them battling personal demons that would continue to torment them for the rest of their lives, set about to make a living after the war.
One such was Salvador Salinas who used the GI Bill to get his education and set about to help other vets. Seventeen years ago Cameron County picked him from among other veterans and made him the county's veteran service officer.
Throughout all those years he registered vets for benefits, interceded on their behalf and reached out to local organizations on their behalf. Dealing with the Veterans Administration trying to navigate the shoals of that bureaucracy took a lot of their time. With longtime department secretary Laura Lee Ortiz, he slowly built up the department tucked in behind the county coffee shop. Homeless, sick and befuddled vets showed up at his office with their DD-214 in hand hoping for a sympathetic ear.
With his traditional high and tight Airborne cut, Salinas reached out to help them. At the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, he and his fellow Nam vets formed the Vietnam Veterans organization. During the monthly meetings, they gathered in their battle fatigues and traded yarns and organized their group.
After 17 years, Salinas decided to retire from county service.
"I just left," he said when we ran into him at a local convenience store. "No goodbyes, no proclamations or resolutions. It was like I hadn't even been there. Now instead of just me and Laura helping out the vets,we have about six full and part-time people at the office to handle the demand. There are vets from Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan, and just about from everywhere needing help."
He must be used to the treatment by now.
As time went on, fewer of the commissioners on the court had performed military service. Over those years he has fought the efforts of commissioners courts who looked upon the department as a prime target for budget cuts. At one time it got so bad that he volunteered to take a pay cut to help out the auditors.
"I'm going to continue working with my fellow veterans through the Vietnam Vets," he told us. "If anyone needs my help, tell them not to hesitate to call on me personally and I will see what we can do to help."
2 comments:
These days lots of people are taking credit for helping Vietnam vets; yet the outreach to those vets usually comes from other Vietnam Vets. Last week there was an article in the Herald about Larry Jokl and all the work he did for Veterans. WOW! Most of us Vietnam Vets missed all that help he says he gave to Vets. Sounded to me that he did what any realtor would do to sell property. The Vietnam Vets have had to take care of themselves, with little help from the public. Yet, like Jokl, there seems to be many who now promote themselves, not the vets. The young men and women in uniform today should hold their heads high. They are volunteers and serve us well. The community is full of those who refused to go to Vietnam or evaded Vietnam in one way of another. Unfortunately, these "evaders" and others who did and will not volunteer for military service now lead our governments and universities. LA isn't the only place that have "Dodgers"...they are everywhere and should be watched carefully. None of our current city commissioners have ever served in the military. None of the county officials have served. Most state officials have never served...but end up making policy for those that did and do serve. That policy often sucks.
I am a Vietnam Vet, 1 ribbon and 3 stars, and have lived in Brownsville since 1984, and only heard about the County Vets Office and Mr. Salinas in the last couple of years when the misdeeds of 60 years caught up with me and a rare autoimmune skin disease (more common to Asia than here) all but made my legs unusable.
Thanks to My friend Lupe Olviera who suggested I speak with Mr. Salinas, - I have received VA assistance which helped with Meds so I can still live not just exist. I would also like to let it be known that Lupe is a helper of others not himself and worthy of many kudos
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