‘Welcome Home’ event to support area veterans of Iraq, Afghanistan

They've been at shopping centers and supermarkets around Henderson the past few weekends. Like many others from veterans organizations, they'll be there today seeking donations for red poppies, symbolic of the Memorial Day tradition from World War I.

All the money that volunteers from Jewish War Veterans Post 65 rake in will go to help fellow veterans.

Much of it this year, some $4,000, will go to support next month's "Welcome Home" event sanctioned by the Department of Veterans Affairs to help those who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"What happens is many of the veterans that come back from these wars go through mental trauma, depression and anxiety," said Jack Cohen, Post 65 adjutant and point man for the "Welcome Home" event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 5 at the Gold Coast.

"Some have lost their jobs, their homes, their wives," he said Thursday. "We want to see if we can head them toward a better life."

Cohen said he doesn't want to see these new veterans joining the thousands of homeless veterans on the streets of Las Vegas.

"If we can help one, 10, two or 20, then we have accomplished our goal," he said.

The purpose of the "Welcome Home" event is to let veterans of the recent wars know what opportunities are available for them and how the VA and other service organizations can help in seeking medical and other benefits to which they are entitled.

In all there will be up to 50 vendors on hand ranging from disability advocates to representatives specializing in housing, education and employment opportunities to counselors on alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence.

While the event targets the 2,500 local veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, an invitation is also extended to combat veterans from the Persian Gulf, Vietnam and Korean wars, said Catherine Sines, manager for the Veterans Affairs' OEF/OIF program in Southern Nevada.

Sines expects thousands of veterans will attend. In all, more than 339,000 veterans live in Nevada, with most of them in Southern Nevada.

"It looks to us like it's going to be a huge celebration," she said.

Cohen discussed the "Welcome Home" event along with Post Commander Ed Kranson and Senior Vice Commander Selwyn Goldberg where the post meets at Wildhorse Golf Club in Henderson.

All three spoke proudly about their military service and their dedication to helping fellow veterans, especially those who are struggling to stay out of the ranks of the homeless, those who have lost limbs and those at the veterans home in Boulder City.

They also offered their thoughts on Memorial Day.

Goldberg, the oldest at 76, was a U.S. Army sniper attached to Turkish tank division in Korea from 1951 to 1953.

Goldberg said he was proud to have been able to serve as a soldier who fought for freedom in a foreign land.

Today, he will be thinking about U.S. troops who are in Iraq and Afghanistan and hoping they can come home and let the armies of those countries fight their wars.

"I don't think we should be there," he said.

Kranson, 71, served active duty in the Navy from 1956 to 1957 and was a Naval reservist. His duties ranged from bookkeeping and supplying reservists with uniforms and sea bags to manning a battle station on a destroyer as a projectile loader for a large gun.

"My thoughts are going to be with our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq," Kranson said, "and pray that they are safe and will come home, and that these conflicts will end once and for all and we have peace."

Cohen, 69, served in Germany driving tanks for the Army from 1958 to 1962. He, too, wants "peace forever. It's a dream but not an impossibility."

As for the ongoing wars, he said "There's no answer as to why we're there. The question is what are we going to do while we're there. If we want the war to end, then treat it as a war."

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.