After we moved to what was then called Marion Hills in 1959, my dad was always attending some sort of meeting. I never really knew what they were for or what he was doing at them. Well, I later found out he was part of the group of three individuals that were in the planning stages of incorporating what was to later become the City of Darien. My dad was a Founding Father! Right under my very nose.
Later on he served on the planning commission, became the first Police Commissioner, chartered a new bank and became President of the Darien Bank. He served in various other volunteer positions within the city and was the first President of the Darien Club. He was, at various times, named Lion of the Year, Business Man of the Year, and Citizen of the Year.
I was always very proud of my dad, even though I probably never told him. But I must have gotten some of my volunteerism interest from him. I don’t ever remember thinking that I was doing some of the things that I was doing to be just like him, but in some ways it turned out to be the case.
One day after I received my draft notice to report to Ft. Jackson, Carolina, I went down to the basement where my dad was working on one of his many hobbies and he gave me some advice that I never forgot. He said I would be foolish not to use the GI Bill and go to college after my time in the service. The government was going to pay for my tuition and I should take advantage of it.
When I returned to Western Electric after I was retired from the Army, I enrolled at the College of DuPage (COD) under the GI Bill. This was in 1971. I didn’t know what I wanted, but I began taking business courses. I went there two or three nights a week and was taking a full-time course load as well as working full time. While I was in the cafeteria, I saw a poster up on the wall that said they were looking for veterans interested in forming a club. The fact that I was a veteran hadn’t really sunk in yet. It wasn’t something you bragged about. Vietnam veterans weren’t very popular – dope-smokin’ baby killers, and all.
I went to the first meeting and met a guy by the name of Gerry-somebody who was not a veteran, but was a member of the faculty that was given the task to form this club. The premise was that we needed some sort of guidance and would probably need some help with something down the road. OK, this probably wasn’t true, but I forget why they thought we needed a club. A resume builder for Gerry, no doubt.
We decided to start meeting on a regular basis and we would discuss issues that we had in common. I found myself having a good time and got to know some of them fairly well. It turned out some of them were from where I worked at Western Electric. Some of the guys were having trouble getting their benefits from the VA and I found that to be troublesome. Back then the VA was a mystery to many of us. Quite honestly, it still is. But I took it upon myself to make some calls and get information sent to us explaining our benefits and how we could speed up the enrollment and entitlement process.
That was my first venture into working with and helping other veterans. If I only had a crystal ball.
I graduated from COD with an Associate in Arts degree in 1972 and I enrolled at Governors State University to pursue an undergraduate degree. I used my GI Bill there as well, as it was a state school. I travelled 50 miles back and forth three or four nights a week for two years and earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration in 1974. To this day I don’t know if it helped me advance in my job or not. The fact that I was able to accomplish this was huge for me. I never was much of a student nor did I have much of a discipline for studying prior to that. I owe all of this to my dad.
Back at Western Electric there was this radical kind of guy that didn’t seem to care much what other people thought. His name was (and still is) Jim Stepanek. His nickname was (and still is) Crazy. He served in Vietnam with the Marine Corps. At the time I worked with a couple of other Vietnam vets and they told me about an AT&T Vets Club and invited me to come to a meeting. It turns out that the “crazy guy” was the one that formed the club. His main goal was for the veterans to be recognized at the workplace and reap some of the same benefits that other special interest groups in the company enjoyed. We got a budget approved and had picnics, hosted Veteran’s Day events at Bell Labs, worked with some of the other (then known as) Equal Opportunity groups, and erected a veteran’s memorial on the grounds. We grew in size and became respected and honored at AT&T. For this I thank Jim.
One day in the summer of 1983 I was out in the front yard and two guys approached me and asked me if I was a veteran. I said that I was and they told me they were forming a local VFW chapter in Woodridge. “Would I be interested?” “Why the heck not?” I said. From this was formed the Woodridge Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1578. To make a very long story short I ended up serving as Post Quartermaster for five years and as Post Commander for five terms over the next 25 years.
One of the members of the newly formed VFW Post was a guy by the name of Don Young. He served with the Navy in Vietnam. I invited him to a VietNow meeting in the spring of 1984. It turns out that the National President of VietNow, Lamont Gaston, owned a campground out in Oregon, Illinois called Lake LaDonna and he was having his annual veterans weekend campout during the first weekend in June. Don and his family were campers and he had been to the one the previous year and asked me if I would like to go that year. I said, “Why the heck not?” It turns out that the weekend changed my life forever. There were hundreds of Vietnam veterans and their families spending the weekend at the campground. The entertainment on the campground stage was going to be Britt Small and Festival. Britt and his band had entertained at the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Wall in Washington, D.C. on Veterans Day, 1982 and were very popular across the country. I cannot describe what I felt that evening. The band played almost all patriotic songs, some of which they had written themselves. I was never so moved. One of the guest speakers was Rev. John Steer, a Vietnam veteran who lost his arm in Hill 887. Another guest speaker was Sammy Davis, a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and an Army Vietnam veteran. These three people changed my life forever. That was in June of 1984 and I still am in constant contact with Britt, John, and Sammy.
My involvement with the veteran movement skyrocketed after that weekend. I had found a mission in life that would take me places I never dreamed of.
In 1985 there was a movement to erect a Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Springfield. Illinois. A committee had been formed and Michael Madigan had made a promise to match dollar-for-dollar all monies we raised. The budget for the memorial was 1.5 million dollars. The DuPage County coordinator for the memorial came to one of our VietNow meeting and explained what needed to be done by the veteran community if this memorial was to be built. The goal was to have the memorial dedicated in May of 1988. I listened to him speak and explain his plans. He was looking for help and I decided that he needed help – mine. I had some ideas of my own as to how to get the project moving forward. This turned out to be another ‘What the heck’ moment. A long story short – I took over as the DuPage County Coordinator and helped to raise over $500,000. We went on to dedicate the memorial on May 5, 1988.
During all of this, I also became involved with a local 1st Cav Division Association chapter. I’m not sure exactly how I found out about that, but now my network in the veteran community was quite extensive. At one of the meetings that I went to, I met Tim Millar. Tim had just completed his term as the National President of the 1st Cav Division Association. He was involved with the grass roots formation of a committee that was organizing a parade in Chicago to honor the Vietnam veterans. This was sometime in late 1984 or early 1985. I somehow got involved with that project. I worked on the committee that became the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Parade that was held on June 13, 1986. This was the largest veterans parade in history and it changed an incredible number of lives that day and ever since then. It is now known simply as ‘The Parade’.
I was becoming well known throughout the veteran community and I was recruited by (then) Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan to serve on his Veterans Advocacy Committee. This was a committee that was comprised of the leaders in veteran’s issues throughout the State of Illinois. We met with the AG once a month to discuss what could be done to help the veterans of Illinois.
In 1987 the Woodridge VFW was approached by the Park District with a plan to erect a memorial to veterans in the Village and they asked that we join forces to accomplish this. It was to be dedicated during the year of the Village’s 35 year anniversary and there was going to be a parade. We planned a dedication ceremony following the parade. I invited Attorney General Neil Hartigan to be our keynote speaker and Britt Small and Festival to sing the National Anthem.
Well, the craziness didn’t stop there. Jim “Crazy” Stepanek belonged to a group of Vietnam veterans in an organization called ‘VietNow’, the Fox Valley Chapter. They were meeting in Batavia. VietNow was a national organization founded in Rockford, Illinois with their motto being “Veterans Helping Veterans”. They only had three or four chapters, however. Jim invited me to attend one of their meetings and I was impressed. They had maybe 50 veterans in attendance and had certain rituals they followed, but not overly structured. I found that I fit in well. I went to another meeting with Jim and the following day I suggested to him that we consider forming a chapter in our own back yard. So Jim and I worked with the Fox Valley Chapter and set up an informational meeting at the library in Glen Ellyn. We put ads in the local papers and rounded up the guys from AT&T. We had a terrific turnout and subsequently formed the DuPage County Chapter of VietNow. I served as Vice-President for 5 years. That was in 1985 and it is still going fairly strong.
In 1989 I was contacted by Lamont Gaston, the President of VietNow and asked if I would be willing to fill a vacancy on the Board of Directors. I told him there was no way I could do that. Well, I served a year on the board and then the next 5 years as National Treasurer. What a sucker.
Lester Weber Memorial Park
I went to high school with Lester Weber, but we did not graduate together. Lester was a confused young man back in the 60’s. He had difficulties with school and was in trouble a lot.
During his senior year, he dropped out of school and joined the Marines. He was sent to Vietnam, completed his tour and was assigned duty in the states. Lester still had difficulty adjusting and decided to volunteer for a second tour of Vietnam.
On February 23, 1969 in Quang Nam Providence in Vietnam, Lance Corporal Lester W. Weber became a hero by successfully attacking 1 enemy and forcing 11 others to break contact. Upon encountering a second North Vietnamese Army soldier he overwhelmed him in fierce hand-to-hand combat. Observing 2 other soldiers firing upon his comrades from behind a dike, L/Cpl. Weber ignored the frenzied firing of the enemy and racing across the hazardous area, dived into their position. He neutralized the position by wrestling weapons from the hands of the 2 soldiers and overcoming them. Although by now the target for concentrated fire from hostile riflemen, L/Cpl. Weber remained in a dangerously exposed position to shout words of encouragement to his emboldened companions. As he moved forward to attack a fifth enemy soldier, he was mortally wounded. L/Cpl. Weber's indomitable courage, aggressive fighting spirit and unwavering devotion to duty upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Myself, Linda, and some of his friends he grew up with decided to honor Lester by having a park named after him in his neighborhood. We raised the funds and had a plaque made and mounted on a boulder that now graces the entrance of Lester W. Weber Memorial Park in unincorporated Hinsdale.
Celebrate Woodridge
Linda and I have always had a good relationship with Mayor William F. Murphy in Woodridge. The fact that he is also a huge Packer fan is a plus.
Y2K was expected to be a huge eventful turning point everywhere in the world. Some communities had planned celebrations to welcome in the new millennium. Woodridge was no different. It was also the 40th anniversary of the Village of Woodridge. So, who did the mayor tap to help plan this event? Yep. Sucker Bob and Sucker Linda. At first I thought I would just attend the planning meeting to see what it was all about. And, by the way, Linda, would you attend with me? We were hooked. It also looked like they needed some direction.
There was to be a parade that year, a Founders Family Picnic, a St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Dance, a Business Kick-off Reception, and a New Year’s Eve Celebration. Of course, there were $100 raffle tickets that needed to be sold. I worked on the parade and the Raffle Queen worked on selling tickets. She also headed up the Founder’s Day Picnic as well as the St. Patrick’s Dance and the Business Reception. We both helped to organize the New Year’s Eve Celebration.
For all of this, as well as our stature in the community, Linda and I were named the 1999 Woodridge Citizens of the Year.
American Liver Foundation
Following my surgery, I was so thankful for having been given a new life that I wanted to give something back. I volunteered to help work with the Illinois Chapter of the American Liver Foundation (ALF). We (Linda once again volunteered) worked on the Annual Liver Walk/Run. Linda set up a ‘Team Bob’ and solicited pledges from anyone and everyone. My entire family joined us and most of them walked the entire route. My buddy, Joe Cantafio, volunteered to bring his guitar and sing a few songs at the Walk. I thought that was mighty brave, since it was on the lakefront in October. We raised quite a bit of money and tied for 1st Place. We also coordinated other fund-raising events for the ALF and I helped with some volunteer work with organ donor awareness.
Journey To Honor
One of our VFW Post members, Mickey Hunt, came up with the idea that since the WWII veterans were getting up there in age, we should do something to honor them for their service to our country. Since the WWII Memorial had recently been dedicated in Washington, D.C., Mickey thought that by helping to arrange for them to visit the memorial would be very fitting.
Mickey’s brother-in-law, Barry Anshell, decided he wanted to help accomplish this with him. Barry took the idea and ran with it. Bob and Linda ran as well. We formed a committee and pooled our resources with the Naperville VFW and got the ball rolling. The surrounding business communities were asked to help support this venture. We held fundraisers, had a Dinner Dance, and before you knew it we had raised enough money to send 40 WWII veterans to Washington, D. C. for a weekend at no expense to them.
Operation Support Our Troops
In 2006, I learned of an organization, Operation Support our Troops - IL that collected food and other items that got packed up and shipped to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was an all-volunteer group comprised of mostly family members of those soldiers that were serving overseas. They were planning a fund-raising concert at Cantigny Park that was going to feature Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band. I had met Gary on a few other occasions and thought this would be a great cause to help with.
Since the company that was providing the production for the concert was owned by a good friend of mine, Jim Killough, I volunteered to help with coordinating the backstage area security. The event went very well and raised over $75,000.
I observed all aspects of how the committee functioned and felt that I had some ideas that could make next year’s event even more successful. Next thing I knew I was the Concert Chairman for the 2007 event. It was decided that Gary Sinise was such a huge success that we should contact him again for another concert. I set up sub-committees and I selected people that I knew I could count on to head these up and away we went. I negotiated Gary’s contract, coordinated the production company, and generally oversaw all aspects of the event. When I say that I selected people that I knew I could count on to head up various aspects, this included Linda, of course. I needed someone to coordinate the sponsor’s tent and the food vendors. This was probably the most important phase of the committee. I knew I had the best talent available and, barring rain, we would have a huge success. It turns out we raised over $350,000! Due to the success of the two years worth of fund-raisers OSOT-IL was able to donate over $100,000 to fund the Fisher House at Hines VA Hospital. Fisher House is a not-for-profit housing that provides a place for out-of-town families to stay while they are visiting their hospitalized veteran relative.
Forgotten Heroes
In 1987, on the coattails of the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Parade, I met someone who has become one of my best friends to this day – Joe Cantafio. Joe was a partner in a musical production company called KCM Productions. They provide all of the procuring of musical talent, stage, lighting, etc., for summer festivals and corporate events in the Midwest at the time. Joe also headed up his own band called Jade.
While Joe was playing at the Naperville’s Last Fling that year, Joe invited a bunch of us veterans backstage. Joe was becoming more and more of a supporter of veterans. He seemed to be impressed with the group after spending time with us, hearing about what we did, and some of what we had to deal with after Vietnam. We invited Joe to our next veteran’s meeting. Joe spent more time talking with veterans and their spouses and was hooked. Later that night after Joe returned home, he began writing a song based on what he experienced. Joe had recorded the song on an album and he now plays it at most of his concerts to this day. It is entitled, “They’re All Not on the Wall”.
In 2004, upon Joe’s returning from entertaining the troops in Iraq along with his band, he decided that he wanted to do more for America’s heroes. Joe contacted me about helping him to start a not-for-profit organization to facilitate arranging for entertainment for the bed-ridden veterans in VA hospitals. Together we formed Forgotten Heroes. I shuffle the paperwork and Joe arranges for the talent. We generally spend a week at a time at least twice a year at the Extended Care Unit at Hines VA Hospital providing fun and entertainment for the vets.
Celebrate Woodridge 2009
Since moving to Bolingbrook in 2000 and wanting to spend more time with working around the house, garden, and pool, I decided to semi-retire from volunteer work. I decided that it was someone else’s turn. Except for my two years of volunteering with the American Liver Foundation and Operation Support Our Troops - IL, I pretty much stayed at home. I went to most of my monthly VFW meetings, but that was about it.
Then, once again, Mayor Murphy came calling. It seems that the Village of Woodridge was going to be celebrating their 50 year anniversary in 2009 and remembered our past involvements. I tried to explain to him that we now live in Bolingbrook – not Woodridge. Did I mention that he is a huge Packer fan? How could I say no. Once again, a parade.
The Future of Volunteerism
I am at the stage in my life that I feel I have given of my time and expense sufficiently that I can sit back and let others pick up where I have left off. Or so it would seem.
This Facebook thing can be both a blessing and a curse. I have connected with a lot of people from my past that I would not have ordinarily been reunited with. One such person is Roger McGill. Roger and I served together on the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Parade in 1986. There was a movement underway to celebrate the 25th Year Anniversary. How could I resist?
I got invited to one of the first meetings (and took Linda, of course) and landed up volunteering to serve as the Entertainment Chairman for the reunion. I will be working with Dennis DeYoung, formerly of Styx.
Our mission is: To insure that our nation's veterans and the men and women of our Armed Forces are recognized and respected for their unique role in the ongoing history of our Nation.
To accomplish this goal by presenting our veterans and Armed Forces, past and present, in a positive manner highlighting their patriotism and sacrifice in the defense, freedom and preservation of our country in time of war and peace and their many contributions to the common good after their military service.
To organize concerts, art and photo exhibits, a series of public readings by veteran authors, and other events to keep them in the forefront of the public's attention and to raise funds for various established charities for veterans, their spouses and children.
Don Young - CMH Sammy Davis - Robert Kolling 1985