Vietnam Veteren Makes Sure Every Hero Gets Proper Welcome Home

All Our Soldiers Are The Best
-------------------------------------------------------------
By Samantha L. Quigley
American Force Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2004 – It happened to Steve Cobb
during his first tour in
Vietnam with the 11th Light Infantry Brigade. He was
wounded in combat - four
times.

"I got four Purple Hearts my first tour and zero my
second," Cobb said. "I
finally learned to duck."

While learning to duck may have been an extremely valuable
lesson, it can't
compare to what being combat wounded taught him. That is
what he draws on when
he meets the wounded servicemembers who arrive at Andrews
Air Force Base from
Iraq or Afghanistan three times a week.

It is that experience that gives him credibility when he
meets one of those
servicemembers, as he's been doing since April. It is also
that experience that
helps him put what has happened to that servicemember into
perspective.

"The bond and understanding is instant, it is deep, and
it's lifelong," Cobb
said, "because they recognize I've been through the same
thing that they have.

"It's hard to describe to someone who hasn't experienced
all the trauma and the
shock and the pain and the inconvenience of evacuation," he
continued. "It's
really hard to understand what that person feels deep
inside. But when you've
been there and gone through that, you have that
understanding and the bonding
is so instant."

Cobb, currently the commander and adjutant of the Military
Order of the Purple
Heart Chapter 353, Greater Washington Area, doesn't meet
planes at 1 a.m. for
the glory. His motivation is the reception he received when
he returned from
Vietnam.

"When I came home there was nobody but demonstrators to
meet the troops. And I
just never wanted to see another generation of troops come
home without being
welcomed (and) appreciated," Cobb said.

Cobb and his wife, Tanya, try to meet each servicemember at
Andrews and offer
whatever help is within their scope. Usually that includes
easing hesitations
and maybe even eliciting a laugh or two to put things in
perspective. But the
duo's main focus is to make sure nobody leaves
empty-handed.

MOPH supports combat wounded veterans of all wars. When
that status has been
determined regarding a particular servicemember, they
receive a specially
prepared packet of information. That packet includes
information on benefits,
treatment and contact information in case there are any
questions or problems.

It also contains some "morale boosting" items, including a
miniature Purple
Heart medal, a history of the medal, a phone card, a sheet
of Purple Heart
postage stamps and a welcome-home letter. Also included is
a year's free
membership with any MOPH chapter.

Non-combat-injured veterans aren't left out. They receive
welcome-home packets
from the Veterans of Foreign Wars that include a benefits
brochure, a service
officer card and a year's free VFW membership.

"The philosophy behind that is, if I walk into a room with
six patients and
three are battle injuries and three are non-battle
injuries, no patient is ever
left empty-handed," Cobb said. "It's a huge morale factor
and they all
appreciate it."

While the packets provide an icebreaker, getting the
servicemembers to focus on
the future and not dwell on the past becomes the order of
the day. Cobb's
weapon of choice for that pursuit is usually humor. And
"Wednesday night
doughnuts" don't hurt anything either, Cobb said.
Occasionally, wheelchair
races have to be refereed after the doughnuts are gone, he
said.

Those who get the packets at Andrews represent about 80
percent of the wounded
servicemembers coming in, he said. The other 20 percent of
the troops are
critical enough to be taken from the flight line at Andrews
directly to Walter
Reed Army Medical Center or the National Naval medical
Center in Bethesda, Md.,
where the Cobbs follow up to make sure the servicemembers
receive a proper
welcome home, including one of the two packets.

It's through these follow-up visits that Cobb learns what
the hospitals need by
way of personal items for the servicemembers. He said the
staff is not allowed
to voice those needs unless asked directly, but when he
broaches the subject,
there are always needs. The biggest, he said, is usually
breakaway sweat pants.

He said he and his wife will continue to meet the wounded
servicemembers coming
into Andrews with information and their own special brand
of thanks,
understanding and appreciation.