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WLDMESDAY. NOVIMBIR 14. 2007 PAGE 4 Veteran fromj>age^_ In those days, you didn't see a lot of television coverage of Vietnam, just on the radio and in the newspaper. This battle was in the newspaper for several days, and this was in November. And I was thinking, ‘Man there are a lot of guys getting killed, and these are guys from my generation. What am 1 doing in college'?’ So 1 wanted to join up, and I told my dad who was in the Army Air Corps in WWU. And my dad said, “No, don’t do that, stay in college, Vietnam isn't gonna be anything. Don't worry about that." Well 1 kept reading more and more about what was going on over there and so I decided to join up at 16. Q: What specifically motivated you to serve your country? A: We just came from a different time. When Kennedy was elected in the fall of 1960. he gave his inauguration address January 20, 1961. If you ever get a chance to see it, it is one of the most inspirational speeches I have ever read or Tri-Delta going strong despite hardships By Bekah Williams Staff Writer bwilliam l@westga.edu To put it lightly —it has been a tough semester for the women of the Delta Delta Delta sorority here on campus. Tri-Delta's 54 members are well know n for their bright yellow’ jerseys as well as their soaring participation on campus. However, this year has held some tough obstacles and a few' heartbreaks for these women. Tri-Delta started the semester off strong by pledging 17 new members during the fall recruitment process for the National Panhellenic sororities at UWG. The semester had just begun and the women were enjoying new members, socials,school ,andsisterhood when tragedy struck. Heartbreak first hit these ladies on Sept. 20 when Erica Green, a sister, received the news that her boyfriend had been killed in a one-car accident in the early hours of the morning. “The death of Andrew Brown was extremely tough on our chapter. It is so hard to see one of your sisters suffering for someone she loved so much and was so close to,” Tri-Delta President Mollie McCarthy said. 3.\i#i f|*l ffiiift • * K PBJHJ ißefi r <®Rj|a -a I . f flaw ill' rjyiMfc mi. x]y y :j|.; : : ■%; jflflHHi -4R P/tofo courtesy of Tri-Delta The Tri-Deltas at the Irish Bred Pub raising money for their Angela Sanders benefit. The girls ended up raising around $6,000. listened to. Toward the end of his address, in his closing remarks, he said, “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." And those words stuck with many of my generation. It was a different time. That was a big thing, dedication to the country. Q: What made you different from all the protestors that made the TV news at the time, who wanted us to end the war at all costs? A: When I was in the army was when the hippies came along, the Vietnam Protest Movement, Students for a Democratic Society, you know, Jane Fonda and her husband, but things had changed drastically. Everything was beginning to change. When I came back from Vietnam, I came back from a hospital in Okinawa and flew into Travis Air Force based to get our dischaige, and we couldn't wait to get home. So we were in uniform, and we got a taxi, pooled our resources, and got a taxi to take us to San Francisco International Aiiport. “Our chapter honored Andrew the night of his death with a candlelight vigil in honor of his memory, as well as prayed for his family and Erica. Even though some of our girls did not know Andrew', it did not prevent them from giving never ending support to Erica and to the rest of the chapter that knew him.” While try ing to recover from Brown’s death, Tri- Delta was hit again with another devastating blow. Angela Sanders, a former sister, passed away on Oct. 3, after a long and courageous battle with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Just days before her passing, Tri-Delta had held a benefit in her honor and raised a grand total of $6,000, which they were able to give to Angela’s parents prior to her passing. Sanders’ death, being so close to Brown’s death, had a huge effect on the chapter. “Angela’s death took a hard toll on our chapter,” McCarthy said. “Angela is the second sister we have had to say goodbye to in the past three years and that is hard to understand and cope with. Angela’s death brought us closer as a chapter and has led us to appreciate just how much Tri-Delta and being a part of a sisterhood has to And the first thing you noticed when you got out of the car, everybody stared at you, glared at you, like you were scum or something. That was the first thing I noticed, was the attitude. And you don’t see that today, when these guys come back from Iraq, and rightly so, they’re looked upon as heroes. And it wasn’t like that in Vietnam. We were called baby killers, hate mongers, drug addicts, the whole nine yards. Q: How do you feel about the way soldiers are treated now? A: I’m glad to see that, it’s a free country, and everybody can have their own opinion and different things, but I think that soldiers, and I’m not just saying that because I was one, but anybody who served in the Armed Forces, have volunteered to put their lives on the line for this country and I’m glad to see that has changed. However, there is something going on now, and you might have caught in the news, protestors are going to the funerals of fallen soldiers, with signs saying things like “You deserve to die,” and it’s offer thoughout our college years and our lifetime.” McCarthy said that these deaths did not occur in vain, but they bettered their chapter as a whole. One reason that these ladies were able to make it through these times of hard-ship could have been a result of their involvement within their organization. McCarthy thinks that being Greek can benefit students by giving them a shoulder to cry on. “If any of these girls, including myself, had to go through any of these hard times alone, I don’t think we would have made it through McCarthy said. “Greek life is one of the most rewarding and memorable experiences you can have in college,” she said. “I would encourage anyone to be a part of the Greek community. It establishes such an incredible, close group of friends (sisters/ brothers) who you can count on at anytime, and for that, on behalf of me and my sisters, we are truly grateful for one another.” While Tri-Delta is still in the process of mending some wounds, they are sure that their chapter will prevail. They are spending a lot of time together and are still doing their part to be active on our campus. been going at funerals around the United States. One father sued the church that was doing the protests and was awarded over a million dollars. r rhat’s just one little speck; most soldiers are now treated with respect. I tell you this, I go to the VA Hospital now, I was up there about two months ago, and there is a big banner saying “Welcome Iraqi Veterans.” But when I came to that hospital in 1968, there were no welcome home signs or anything like that. So even the VA has changed, and I’m glad to see it. I’m glad to see certain attitudes changing. Q: How do you feel about the future ? Should we continue to intervene in other countries or should we become completely isolationist, or something in between? A: Remember before World War I and 11, America was very isolated. But of course, it’s like they say, we were attacked at Pearl Harbor and on Sept. 11.1 was bom in 1945, so my attitudes are old. So like Kennedy said, “Pass the torch to a new generation.” I’m old, 1 can’t worry about stuff like 9A ‘ 1 £ *** “The photo shows me and members of my squad as we were preparing to board our helicopter, a Huey D model (slick), with its name painted across the nose, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” Left to right in the photo are Sgt. Go mez, SP/4 Lutz, SP/4 Daley, SP/4 Whitesell, SP/4 Cole, SP/4 Allen Tingwald (my best friend), SP/4 Purvis, and me. With in the next two days Sgt. Gomez, SP/4 Lutz and SP/4 Daley were killed andSP/4 Whitesell was hit by four AK-47 rounds piercing his left shoulder and left lung.” - Billy Alford HYPNOSIS can reduce and eliminate Test Anxiety, Poor Study Habits, & Procrastination •Safe and effective I | pa ga we Program Includes: •Pre Hypnosis consultation •2 Individual Sessions Normally $225.00 - Nowonly * - -'** $175 For UWG students '■ > • . . • , -.y . ... • - . - ‘ V. ' '. -' - ■ - -■- ----- - Ted Ceccoli, LAPC, Certified Hypnotherapist Body Mind Therapeutics, Inc 415 Dixie Street, Carrollton, GA 770-838-9806 by appointment www.bodymindtherapeutics.com THE WHST GEORGIAN - NEWS whether or not we should or shouldn’t be anywhere, that’s for the next generation to worry about. Q: What do you want to do after you retire ? A: I plan on doing a lot of reading after I retire, a lot of reading on history, because I have a lot of books, and I love history. I’ve got books lying all over my house. My favorite periods in history, I prefer mostly recent history, especially WWII. My lather and uncles all served in WWII. Asa matter of fact, I have an uncle, 93 years old, lives in Wisconsin, who served in the 101st Airborne, s<)2nd, WWII, he made the jump into Normandy, Holland.and Bastogne. Same unit as the Band of Brothers, and I stay in touch with him by phone, we talk a lot. And I hope after I retire, I can take a trip to go see him. And you know they say the WWII generation is dying at a rate of something like 3(XM) a month. If you want to talk about a bunch of guys who are living history, you should be talking to those guys. Q: Who are some of your heroes? A: I like Winston Churchill, who pulled England through the war, and Roosevelt, who held this country together, and almost served four terms. Q: Overall, do you feel Vietnam was a success or a failure? I’ve heard that we never lost a battle, even though we eventually pulled out. A: We had a lot of casualties, about 85,(XX), but I don’t think out of anything I’ve ever read, not that I can recall as we’re sitting here, we never lost a battle. The closest thing to defeat would have been the Tet Offensive, but even that we won. Q: What is your favorite Vietnam movie? Do you like “Apocalypse Now”, “Full Metal Jacket”, “Platoon?” A: No, none of those movies were really realistic at all. 1 really think “Hamburger Hill” is the best war movie if you want to know what the war was really like. I also watch “A Bridge Too Far” every' now and then.