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.
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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
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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.
