Veterans

Two recent news stories speak volumes about the American veteran experience. And, contrary to expectations, neither is about suicides, post-traumatic stress disorder, or traumatic brain injury. Following the retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, the U.S. Supreme Court began its first term since at least World War II without a veteran on the bench. Meanwhile, in Connecticut, Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal was caught fabricating military experience in Vietnam. These stories reflect a paradox: American civilians continue to love what veterans represent - duty, sacrifice, strength, leadership - but we have less and less true understanding of the veteran experience.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The four of them will be sitting on Millionaires Row, which only begins to hint at their real worth, and rooting for a horse named Normandy Invasion. "If he's as lucky as the rest of us," said 90-year-old Ray Woods, with a nod toward his friends, "he'll win. " Woods and the others will be rooting for Rick Porter's bay at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday because of what the horse owner has done for vets. For most of his 20 years in the business, the ex-soldier has been naming horses to honor veterans.

The new GI bill is likely to result in an increase of nearly 25 percent in the number of veterans and reservists enrolled in college by 1993, according to a report to be released today by the American Council on Education. The predicted surge of veterans into college classrooms would come at a time when many schools, including those in the Philadelphia area, are fighting to maintain their enrollments in the face of a demographic decline in the traditional college-age population.

As Sen. John Kerry scanned the audience yesterday for one final question, two hands shot up - a veteran in uniform and a young girl. "I see a man in uniform and I see a child," he said. "The child! The child!" the crowd yelled. Kerry took the vet's. Suddenly, veterans are front and center in Democratic politics. They have become a force in this presidential contest, sizing up the Massachusetts senator and retired Gen. Wesley Clark not just as candidates but as kindred spirits.

As she placed gift coupons into Christmas cards for ailing veterans last week, Anna Stay, 73, suffered a brain hemorrhage that left her in a coma. But more than her death Monday at Nazareth Hospital, it was Mrs. Stay's life that was marked by her abiding interest in veterans' causes and in the special joy she took in tending to those hospitalized, said those close to her. Active with the American Legion Auxiliary for more than four decades - and once serving as state president - Mrs. Stay had also made her contributions at bedsides.

Ray Uccelletti, 78, of Elkins Park, quit high school in December 1942 to join the Marines. He was 17 and six months short of graduation, and never received a high school diploma. Bill Sausman, 76, of Wallingford, joined the Army in 1943 while in 11th grade and served with the 101st Airborne Division in Europe. He, too, forfeited a high school diploma to serve his country. It was not uncommon during World War II for young men to drop out of high school and lie about their age to enlist, especially after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

New Jersey voters appeared agreeable to fixing the state's crumbling bridges, giving veterans a bigger property-tax deduction, and prohibiting lottery money from financing prison programs. By a ratio of about 2-1 in yesterday's election, voters were saying yes to Question One on the general election ballot, known as the Statewide Transportation and Local Bridge Bond Act of 1999. Voter approval gives the state the authority to issue $500 million in general obligation bonds to fix bridges, repair roads, and undertake new transportation projects.

They were the quiet veterans. They didn't campaign for memorials, they didn't form groups to agitate for more recognition, they didn't parade around the country seeking support for their causes. They had fought in Korea, a country where summers are stiflingly hot and humid and temperatures pass 100 degrees, while winters are bitter with winds from Siberia dropping the thermometer to minus 40. They left many of their friends behind on that God-forsaken peninsula - 54,246 of them died in three years of fighting - an American death rate more than three times that of Vietnam, a generation later.

Eugene V. Mele, 90, a marine engineer and decorated World War II veteran, died Thursday, Jan. 27, at Springfield Hospital in Springfield, Delaware County. He was a resident of Springfield for 58 years. A native of Westmoreland County, Pa., Mr. Mele studied at Keystone Engineering Institute in Pittsburgh and was a draftsman at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard before joining the Army in July 1944. He saw combat in Europe and was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions defending the Meuse River during the Battle of the Bulge.

I tend to think of myself as both an educated and empathetic product of my environment. One might say that's a pretty bold statement coming from a 25-year-old, but consider the facts: I beat the odds of becoming "just another minority statistic. " I am a college graduate. I still believe I can make a difference by thinking positively. Having been fortunate enough to grow up in a home where family is No. 1, I know that no matter where my travels, experiences and careers take me outside this city, family will never be too far away.