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Chicago Tribune
25-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Letters: Remembering my childhood friend who died in Vietnam
When I was a young boy, around this time of year, I planted flags at Chicagoland cemeteries in remembrance of those who paid the ultimate price. Back then, I didn't realize the significance of the act I was participating in, but now, certainly I do. Memorial Day is the day we pay our respects to the honored fallen. I had a boyhood friend named Kenny Green who I played schoolyard softball with and with whom I relished the carefree days of youth. I remember Kenny as an easygoing, gentle, likable boy who wouldn't harm a fly. Kenny and I graduated grammar school together in June 1962. After high school graduation in 1966, Kenny joined the Marines. In Vietnam, Kenny was a mortar man with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines. In September 1967, his unit was in the Con Thien area when they were bombarded by heavy enemy artillery and a rocket barrage. Kenny and his entire mortar crew perished. In early October that year, I learned of Kenny's death and enlisted in the Marine Corps, driven in part probably by the juvenile notion of wanting to 'avenge' Kenny's death. A year later, in autumn 1968, I was at C2, a small base just 10 minutes or so from the area where Kenny died. I didn't realize how near I was to the place my boyhood friend had fallen until years later, when I discovered how Kenny had died. I was fortunate to have survived where Kenny didn't. I find the memory of Kenny popping into my head more and more frequently as time goes by. Few days go by when I don't think of him. At age 19, Kenny gave up 'all his tomorrows.' Think of my friend, Kenny Green, for just one moment on Memorial Day. I'll take care of the rest of the year. If Kenny could somehow know, I think he would find it pretty special that so many people had him in their thoughts on this important day. This is the link to his tribute page: Please help keep alive the memory of the sacrifices made by all these young people. Kenny's loss personalizes it big time for me, and it seems the older I get, the more sentimental I the Vietnam War has been over for 50 years, the memories still linger of the two friends lost there — one, a helicopter pilot, John Prombo Jr., and the other an infantryman, Harold Maddox. Even though I was in the Army at the same time, I never left the States. Uncle Sam considers me a veteran, but the true veterans were the ones who put their lives on the line, the ones who survived the war and the ones who did not. God bless them Vietnam War ended 50 years ago — for some. The war goes on for some with post-traumatic stress disorder and Agent Orange-related illnesses. McHenry County lost at least 35 brave young men. Those of us who got drafted got a 'greeting' letter from Norma Scott telling them to be at the Woodstock train station at 7 in the morning to catch a train to Chicago. After being inducted into the Army, they were transported by bus to O'Hare International Airport for a flight to their basic training. For many of us, it was Fort Polk in Louisiana. After five or six months of training, many of us were on a plane headed to Southeast Asia hoping that we would survive the next 365 days so we could return to our families. More than 58,000 Americans were killed in action. May they all rest in an American and a veteran (Vietnam, 1968-69) and on behalf of my comrades lost in that war, I must admit my disdain and anger — especially during the last election cycle — at how the American flag, in my estimation, was, and continues to be, desecrated with the image of Donald Trump's face plastered all over it. Patriotic idolatry? Something to ponder, especially on Memorial Day.'Sittin' in the morning sun, I'll be sittin' when the evening comes.' This was my dad's favorite song. I thought it curious that he knew all the words. As his eldest daughter, I knew very little about the history of his service in the Army, and he never spoke about it. I knew he was one of the five Grzenia boys who served in World War II in different branches of service. In 1970, my dad chatted with my fiancé, a Marine who served in Vietnam, and only then did the history of my dad's service become known. My dad, Bill Grzenia, served in Europe at the Battle of the Bulge. He was a sergeant, and during battle, his primary job was to lead a small team of men to scout the area and report back on enemy location. He spoke of the comrades he lost. He was wounded in both legs and left for three days in a foxhole during a brutal winter. He almost lost both legs due to the wounds and frostbite. He got patched up in France and went back to the front. My dad passed away on Jan. 12, 1993. He was a humble, loving guy with the nickname 'Laughing Bill.' He suffered from alcoholism in his later years and, in my view, depression. As we were going through his personal items, shoved in a shoebox in a closet were letters, service documents, Army pictures, two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. My dad loved his country and served it with honor. Healing takes time — it requires emotional and spiritual strength. We love him dearly, even with his paying my respects at Arlington National Cemetery, I came across a headstone that was slowly being swallowed by a tree. The tree was probably a sapling when this person was laid to rest, but nature took its course. Despite the honor of being interred at Arlington, it seemed unjust that this person's name was no longer visible. I checked the headstone directory for the headstone next to it and moved one number back. The search unearthed a name, and down the rabbit hole I went. Meet Kurt Leibe. He was born in Germany in 1894 and received no higher than an eighth grade education. In 1939, he and his wife, Margaret, made the decision to immigrate to the U.S. with their son, Heinz. If you think for a moment about what was going on in Germany in 1939, it's safe to assume why they made the difficult decision to leave their home. They departed Hamburg for New York on June 8 on a German ship aptly named the SS New York. They were third-class passengers, which meant they were in cramped, windowless quarters with uninsulated walls for about a month and a half. In the U.S., Kurt joined the Navy and served as a chief petty officer in World War II, fighting the Axis powers that included his home country. A year later, the SS New York was requisitioned by the Nazis for the war. It was sunk in an air raid at Kiel in 1945. His total income in 1940 was $1,800. Today, it would be about $41,000. He and Margaret owned a home in Washington, then valued at $4,500. Today, his home is a townhouse worth over a half million dollars. Kurt's daughter, Margaret, was the first of the family to be born in the U.S., an American citizen. Kurt died on Jan. 14, 1953. Margaret is buried next to him. It's likely this letter won't be seen by many people, and his name will be forgotten. But before nature reclaims his headstone and his name is lost to history, let this be one last tribute to a man I've never met, who served in the armed forces so I'd never have to. It's not much coming from a stranger, but: Kurt Liebe, thank you for your service.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
These vets say the PACT Act left them behind
When Dave Crete was stationed at the Nevada Test and Training Range as an Air Force security troop in the late 1980s, his dorm room was just over two miles from a nuclear test site. Just getting onto the range, known as the NTTR, through its main gate puts you within miles of one of the base's five sites. Crete now has 20 tumors throughout his body and deals with brain cysts and atrophy, meaning his brain is shrinking. 'That's not too bad. I'm one of the healthy ones. Average age of death for our unit is 65,' Crete said to a congressional panel Tuesday. 'I don't know anybody yet that's made it to 80.' On Tuesday, Crete joined other veteran advocates at a roundtable on Capitol Hill to discuss toxic exposures from their service that are not covered under the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, known as the PACT Act. Passed in 2022, the PACT Act deemed certain illnesses and cancers as service-related for those exposed to burn pits during Iraq and Afghanistan deployments and for Vietnam War veterans with Agent Orange-related chemicals. However, while the PACT Act covers some instances of toxic exposure at domestic military bases, there are gaps, and some veterans are warning Congress that they're slipping through the cracks. Rosie Torres, a co-founder of Burn Pits 360, a veterans group focused on toxic exposure, said the roundtable highlighted past exposure incidents that weren't included in the PACT Act and implications for future generations that should be considered amid political conversations around the future of veteran benefits. 'It's a way to show that there's a need for healthcare in the [Department of Veterans Affairs] and for Congress to acknowledge these other incidents and if there are opportunities to amend the PACT Act, that that be done,' she said. Danny Sebeck, a Space Force officer and co-director of the Torchlight Initiative, which advocates for the Air Force missile community, said the PACT Act 'does a great job' of covering care for people that are overseas. But what Sebeck and other advocates told members of Congress Tuesday is that there are coverage gaps for service members and their families who live at bases and are exposed to toxic chemicals. 'There's a common theme here obviously, that's why we're all here and we're taking a lot of casualties. These casualties are not taken in battle instead they're taken in our workplace,' Sebeck said. 'We need to absolutely add some of these kind of smaller, unknown communities to the PACT Act.' Speakers included veterans, family members and advocates with stories of toxic exposure from the Red Hill fuel spill at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii as well as a long-closed California base, which was deemed to be among the most poluted sites in America by the EPA. Veterans and spouses shared their stories of cancer fights, miscarriages and other illnesses from exposure to toxins, radiation, fuel spills, and chemical contaminations during their service going back to the 1980s. Advocacy groups asked for support to help aviators who suffer higher cancer rates from their service and families who were exposed to local toxins at bases abroad like at Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Atsugi, Japan. Crete said his brain cysts are not part of his rating as a service-connected disability. He is also not covered under PACT Act since he served in the 80s after the law's Agent Orange coverage was active (between Jan. 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975) and because the Nevada range is not registered as a toxic site. 'They knew when they did the assessment that our air was contaminated, our soil was contaminated, and our drinking water was contaminated so the water that my food was cooked in was contaminated, the water that I showered in every day was contaminated,' he said. 'I am asking that Congress please allow us to get the benefits that every other veteran has earned.' About a decade before Crete worked at the NTTR, a federal environmental assessment of the Tonopah Test Range, which is part of the complex, stated the environmental impacts of the range included scarring of the land and roads by shrapnel impact, the scattering of debris, toxic and radioactive materials and explosive wastes 'burned in the open.' It also considered the 'exposure of the working staff' as an 'unavoidable adverse environmental impact.' 'As long as the nation chooses to maintain an up-to-date nuclear weapon stockpile, some facility such as the Tonopah Test Range must continue to exist,' the 1975 report from the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration said. 'Because it is well isolated from man and his works, from an environmental point of view, the operation of the Range should be permitted to continue. The environmental costs inherent in the work are small and reasonable for the benefits received.' (function() { var scribd = = "text/javascript"; = true; = " var s = s); })() Military service members and their families are 'disproportionately exposed' to chemicals like asbestos to toxic chemicals in the soil and groundwater, said Jared Hayes, policy analyst for the Environmental Working Group. 'The [Department of Defense] has consistently downplayed the risks of failing to alert the service members of the presence of toxic chemicals by failing to track the presence of toxic chemicals in their bodies,' Hayes said. A February Government Accountability Report found that estimates to clean up 'forever chemicals,' or more technically known as polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS, from military bases will cost $9.3 billion in fiscal year 2025 and beyond. However, the GAO found that the costs will continue to increase as the department learns about the 'breadth and depth' of the needs. 'Often we think veterans' injuries deriving from action in far away lands while under fire. We know that this is simply not true,' ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) said at the roundtable. The veteran groups said there's not enough transparency about their exposures to toxins in the form of PFAS, ground and water contaminations, and other chemicals from their military jobs. Candace Wheeler, director for government and legislative Affairs for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, called for troops to be able to access exposure records kept by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs known as an Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record, or ILER. Those records track troops' toxin or environmental exposure. She also said there should be an ILER 2.0 for military family members. 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could take either, and then the electronic medical records, and use these together to be proactive and reach out to our veterans and their families and get an early notification,' Wheeler said. 'There is a huge difference between stage one and stage four cancer. We can save lives if we are proactive.' Wheeler, whose husband served as an Air Force fighter pilot at the now-shuttered George Air Force Base, California, said the installation was designated by the Environmental Protection Agency's as a highly contaminated site, but they were never officially notified. At the time, families were experiencing higher rates of infertility and miscarriages, adding that 'people were told: don't get pregnant at George.' Christy Foran, a scientist at the RAND Corporation, said military members face the same occupational hazards from exposure to toxic chemicals as firefighters exposed to PFAS, utility and transportation workers who handle fuels or industrial workers dealing with solvents and heavy metals. These exposures can lead to cancers and respiratory and cardiac issues, Foran said, adding that maintaining 'careful records' is critical to understanding the safety impacts. A hurdle to that record-keeping is that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have different types of data on exposures. 'Keeping track of these exposures to identify the potential health consequences is challenging in part because there are two systems that have to work together,' she said. Later on during the roundtable, Foran said that more research would be required to put the pieces together to spot links between exposure and health ailments. Veterans testified that the lack of transparency has led them to do the behind-the-scenes research necessary to prove that their cancers or other health conditions are the result of exposure at their military installations. 'It's heart-wrenching and gut-wrenching,' Torres of Burn Pits 360 said. 'We shouldn't have to be our own lawyers, doctors, researchers, and that's what I've been witnessing today.' Mandy Feindt, an Army major whose family was exposed to the fuel spill at Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility along with 90,000 others at the Hawaii base, said the Navy failed to inform service members of the risks they, and their families faced. 'When Red Hill happened, the Navy knew for six months,' Feindt said at the roundtable in Washington, D.C. 'Thousands of families cooked their Thanksgiving meals with jet-fuel-contaminated water, including mine.' Back in 2022, when Task & Purpose asked the service about the accusations that the Navy withheld information from families on base, a spokesperson said that 'information provided to our residents, our communities, the public and the media was accurate at the time.' Five Navy admirals and seven captains faced rebuke for the Red Hill fuel leak in 2023. While the PACT Act legislation directed the VA to study the human impact of jet fuel exposure and report it back to Congress, Red Hill was not included, she said. While a lot of progress has been made, Feindt said, 'there's not been a lot of lessons learned,' and called for more mandatory medical testing at the first instance of known toxic exposure. 'When several thousand people ended up in the hospital, and I, as a mother, begged for testing hair, skin, nails, take a body part if you have to. I want to know what it is that my children have consumed,' Feindt said. 'The Navy somehow felt they reserved the right to know more about what my children were being exposed to than I did as their own mother.' Here is the training that the Army says is no longer mandatory Navy fires commander of Colorado-based Information Operations Command Firefighters help paratrooper finish jump after missing the ground Pregnant pilots and aircrew grounded for first trimester under new Air Force flying rules Mold in privatized housing cost this Navy family their health and reenlistment bonus
