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Despite rain, tributes to veterans soldier on
Pax commanding officer calls for help for those returning
Friday, Nov. 13, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by JESSE YEATMAN
Capt. Andrew Macyko, commanding officer of Patuxent River Naval Air Station, salutes as Ruth Hill sings the national anthem near the start of the Veterans Day event hosted by The Veterans of Helen.
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Capt. Andrew Macyko, commanding officer of Patuxent River Naval Air Station, called on family, friends, employers and agencies Wednesday to look for those veterans returning from war who need help.
Speaking in Helen on Veterans Day after offering remarks in a similar vein in Leonardtown earlier on Veterans Day, called on opportunity in a speech on Veterans Day to offer a call to action for family, friends, employers and agencies to look for those veterans returning from war who need help.
"We still need to get that information out. We still need to be vigilant of the telltale signs," Macyko said at The Veterans of Helen annual observance after offering remarks in a similar vein earlier at Veterans Day ceremonies in Leonardtown.
About 1.8 million U.S. service members have served in Iraq or Afghanistan in the last eight years, Macyko said. More than one-third of those have deployed more than one time.
St. Mary's County has always shown strong dedication and commitment to veterans, he said. Still, "it's easy to get carried away in our day-to-day routines," Macyko said.
People should take the opportunity to learn about the warning signs and find help for friends or family who may need it, he said.
The rain and wind that moved into the county this week called for some last-minute adjustments to the 24th annual ceremony in Helen, but plenty of people still showed up to pay their respects to veterans past and current and to take part in some fellowship afterwards.
"The weather doesn't stop the battle … in fact, if you're better prepared than the other guy it's something you can take advantage of," said Larry Hill, the Veterans of Helen president and event coordinator.
Hill, a veteran who served in the early 1970s through the tail-end of the Vietnam War, said he was pleased that Macyko was bringing attention to post-traumatic stress disorder.
"It takes a hold of you and your family," he said. "The veterans programs have come a long way … but there's always more that could be done."
Several veterans in attendance from previous conflicts and wars said that things were different when they returned home.
"They didn't have that help in Vietnam," Nickey Henson of Helen said. Her husband, Jim, served in the Navy for more than two decades before retiring in 1983.
When soldiers returned home then, Jim Henson said, "They just hid their problems and went on with their lives."
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