I  recently accepted the challenge of being the director of the Veterans Resource Center here on Whidbey Island.

The VRC is dedicated to providing support to veterans and their families as they resume life in our communities. Meaningful employment is the linchpin that holds a veteran’s life together and enables his or her participation as a contributing citizen in our community.

When I came back from Vietnam, our country provided mixed responses to Vietnam veterans. There were few parades and no celebrations of victory.

Family members and friends were supportive and appreciative of our service and sacrifices. Protesters and many people in our country were critical of our service. I did not personally have this experience. We did the jobs we were assigned to do in Vietnam to the best of our abilities. It was not easy work to do. We left some of our friends there.

I volunteered and risked my life in Vietnam. I was rewarded for my combat service and used the benefits of the GI Bill to take many courses and trainings and to give back something to our country by becoming a school teacher and school administrator. This was a very rewarding career and experience for me and for my family.

I am very proud to be an American and appreciate the benefits and services I have received as a result of my military service. I continue to receive high quality health care services from the Veterans’ Administration even at this stage in my life. I am deeply grateful for this care. I realize that I have been blessed to be able to live the American dream.

I have personally made the transition from combat veteran to a productive, contributing, and successful life.

We know in our hearts this transition is critical for other veterans. Our dream at the Veterans Resource Center is to support the young men and women who have returned to this beautiful Island from combat in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan, and any other conflicts or future wars. We hope they will be welcomed home, thanked for their service by a grateful community, and then extended the opportunity to prepare for a sustainable career of rewarding employment. They deserve the satisfaction of helping make life better for others in their communities with the skills,  experience and knowledge they bring from their military service.

Our mission at the VRC includes honoring our veterans of all eras whose lives are affected by combat experiences, PTSD, Agent Orange, cancer, hearing loss, mesothelioma, trauma, stress, and other service related injuries and who in their declining years are feeling the accumulated effects of these conditions. It is our privilege to ask for help for those who are not comfortable asking for it. This is the dream and vision of the VRC.

-Fred McCarthy

Veterans Resource Center :

Information Center:

Mondays & Tuesdays – 9 a.m.
to 3 p.m.
Wednesdays – 9 a.m. to noon
Other hours by appointment

OPEN HOUSE!
Saturday, June 30
11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Enjoy a hot dog & drink for $1

Highway 525 & Scott Road,
Freeland
360-331-8081
www.vetsresourcecenter.org