A sixth-grader's thank you kept this serviceman going - and now they've met

During the Vietnam War, John Metzler was a 23-year-old helicopter gunner. He knew that the US was divided on our involvement in the war, and that each day might be his last. 

On Christmas Day 1970, Metzler got a card from a sixth-grader he didn't know. In part, it read, "Dear Serviceman, I want to give my sincere thanks for going over to war to fight for us. The class hopes you will be able to come home." It was signed "DonnaCaye." 

Even though the card wasn't addressed directly to him, Metzler took the girl's thanks personally. Knowing that someone had thanked him for what he was doing made a huge difference in his ability to cope with the stresses of his tour. He kept the note through his tour of duty and brought it home with him. 

For over 40 years, the young girl's words have lived behind a photo of Metzler as a young soldier. Recently, he asked family members to try to find DonnaCaye. They told him they tried, but were not successful.

In truth, they did find her. They flew her from Florida to meet the serviceman at a veteran's event near his Idaho home. You can watch their touching interaction as captured by CBS News. 

Misdialed number sends Jimmy John's driver to pick up a vet and deliver him to the ER

Lisa Nagengast calls it 'divine intervention.'

She was on the phone with her brother, Navy vet Greg Holeman of Columbus, Nebraska. He was home recovering from back surgery and told her about post-op complications he was having. She wanted him to call an ambulance, but he was worried about the expense. Unable to help in person from her home in Florida, Lisa dialed Greg's social worker at the Department of Veteran's Affairs in Nebraska.

At least she thought she did.

She actually reached Jimmy John's, the sandwich franchise, and told the story to Lupe Rodriguez, the woman who answered at the shop. Lupe handed the phone to the night manager, Jason Voss, and Voss listened to the panicked woman on the other end of the phone.

Within minutes, Voss had talked the situation over with one of his drivers, Zach Hillmer. A vet himself, Hillmer volunteered to help. With Voss' blessing, Hillmer called Lisa back to get Greg's address.

Lisa was confused and wondered why the social workers didn't have access to her brother’s information. That's when she learned she'd called a sandwich shop.

With details in hand, Hillmer picked Greg up and delivered him to the Emergency Room. 

Because a number of people responded to Greg's need with empathy, he is now back home and doing well. "It was meant to be," Lisa says.

Two vets log 15,000 hours driving other vets to appointments

At 85 and 70 years old, Mel Ortega and Bernardo Jaramill might be content to stay home and relax. Not these two retired army vets. They volunteer their time with Disabled American Veterans, driving disabled vets to appointments near their home in northern New Mexico. Both men remember the camaraderie and mutual support they received from their fellow soldiers, and they see this as a way to continue to serve.  

Since starting to drive for DAV in 2002, Ortega has logged over 10,000 hours - an amazing 200,000 miles. Jaramillo joined the effort a year later, driving over 5,000 hours and bringing the pair's total volunteer driving miles to 300,000.   
“When I was wounded in Vietnam, my brothers in arms, they never left me or the other guys behind,” Jaramillo said. “I don’t intend to let ’em down. I don’t care from what war, we gotta serve them, because they served us.”

Team Rubicon continues to serve

When a magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook Haiti early in 2010, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and almost a million left homeless. Water and medical help were cut off; food lines and tent cities sprang up amid the rubble. 

Two US Marines decided to help. Jake Wood and William McNulty rounded up six other veterans and first responders. With money and medical supplies donated by friends and family, they flew to the Dominican Republic and drove into Haiti in a rented truck. 

Relief agencies were already in place, helping many thousands of people. This group of ex-military and first responders decided their mission was to get to the people outside the reach of the other aid agencies. They voluntarily crossed into 'unsafe' areas, crossing their Rubicon and committing themselves to do what they could to help. And help they did. 

Since then, the non-profit Team Rubicon has grown exponentially. Team Rubicon USA alone has 35,000 volunteers who stand ready to be deployed to disaster areas. Teams have been deployed around the world to help victims of floods, fires, earthquakes, tornadoes, and to provide humanitarian aid. Their mission is to unite "the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy emergency response teams."

 The men and women of Team Rubicon have been getting some good press for their service, including this video on Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist. They even have their own YouTube channel. 

Obviously, the folks receiving the generous help from Team Rubicon are incredibly grateful. And it works both ways - those who do the giving are also blessed. As one community leader said, "I support Team Rubicon not only for the important job they are fulfilling by getting experienced first responders on the ground to disaster areas, but what they provide in allowing our veterans to use the leadership, operational, and technical skills they honed in the military to serve their fellow citizens in times of desperate need."

Warrior Writers

Last Sunday, I attended a workshop at the Dietrich Theater about the Warrior Writers project. It's a grassroots effort whose mission is to "create a culture that articulates veterans' experiences, provide a creative community for artistic expression, and bear witness to the lived experiences of warriors." - from Warrior Writers website. Through "writing and art-making workshops, we provide a creative community for self-expression and reflection, while also fostering mutual understanding and peer-to-peer support." - from the introduction to the Warrior Writers 2014 collection book.

What an amazing mission it is - use of the arts as a tool for veterans to process their experiences and express them creatively and genuinely. They have offered writing and art workshops, art exhibitions, and performances with vets throughout the US since 2007 and have published several compilation books of vets' stories and poems. This organization uses the arts as tools of healing. Even among us civilians with cushy lives, who couldn't use a little healing?


The Dietrich plans to host a monthly workshop for interested vets. Each workshop will be facilitated by Jennie, a combat veteran who has been active in the Warrior Writers in the Allentown area. A co-facilitator, typically a local writer, will assist. If the project is embraced here the way it has been elsewhere, Jennie expects that local veterans will be ready to lead the workshops in about 6 months. If you or a vet you know who would like to participate, please call the Dietrich at 570-836-1022.