Stand Down gives vets hand up not handout

POST FALLS – Dick Nelson’s visit to the Veterans’ Stand Down in Post Falls was his first since the program began 13 years ago.

“A buddy called and suggested I come, so I drove down from my place in Blanchard. Sure glad I did,” said the 75-year-old retired Priest River police officer.

A submariner during the Korean War, Nelson fell through the boat’s conning tower hatch while his sub was making a crash dive. He smashed his right leg on the steel deck.

That accident terminated his Navy career after he’d served four years, 11 months and 25 days, he recounts.

Since then Nelson has suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure and diabetes, and has been hospitalized in the Spokane Veterans Affairs facility “more times than I can count.”

He gets by, he said, on Social Security and a small VA pension.

Nelson clutched a pair of Army surplus canteens and a sleeping bag, part of the goods donated by the Department of Defense for distribution to needy veterans through the national Stand Down program.

He’d looked through the pants and shirts – some donated by St. Vincent De Paul, others by the Defense Department – but couldn’t find anything that fit his large frame.

Before he returned home, he said, he might visit the tent where volunteers were distributing food and perhaps stand in line for a hamburger or two, cooked by fellow vets and their family members.

John Dunlap, commander of the Post Falls American Legion post and the local event’s organizer, said 322 veterans and 650 dependents registered for the Saturday Stand Down.

Past Stand Downs have attracted 700 to 800, he said, and this year’s participants wanted food more than clothing.

“We gave away two tons of potatoes, and had to run to the store for more food after we ran out. To me, that’s an indication that our economy is down,” Dunlap said.

As of Sunday afternoon, he’d not tallied how much food post members bought and gave away, but said vets grabbed some 600 sleeping bags and surplus military clothing valued at $200,000.

He’s retained some bags for distribution to veterans in the Silver Valley, Sandpoint and Bonners Ferry, he said.

All veterans are eligible for the once-a-year Stand Down, which is designed, he said, to give those in need “a hand up, not a handout.”

In addition to the food, gear and clothing, those who attended were offered free haircuts by Sandy Williams, a professional hair stylist and American Legion Auxiliary member.

“When folks look better, they feel better,” she explained, as she put the final clips to Mike Mooney, 44, a veteran of the 3rd Armored Division and a janitor at a local nursing home.

Mooney has attended the event each of the past 10 years, he said, to meet other veterans, get a haircut and collect some clothing.

Williams refused Mooney’s tip.

According to Dunlap, about 80 volunteers, including veterans and their family members, help out during the Stand Down. In addition, representatives from agencies and private entities that provide services to vets man sign-up stations.

Those include the VA, St. Vincent De Paul, Disabled American Veterans, Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor, the Spokane Veterans’ Outreach Center, and veterans’ service officers representing the American Legion and Kootenai County.

Services include help in filling out VA claim forms, medical screenings, legal advice and transitional housing assistance.

Dunlap said about six homeless vets slept in tents behind the Legion’s building Friday night, while about a dozen other homeless spent the night in cars.

One of the outside sleepers, a diabetic, began vomiting and had diarrhea, according to Mike Lehman, a VA nurse, one of several professionals stationed in a mobile medical bus outside in the Legion’s parking lot.

“He was a VA patient already, and after we screened him, we sent him off to our hospital in Spokane,” Lehman said.

Dunlap said his Legion post helps needy veterans year-round.