Healing the scars of war
http://bolingbrooksun.suntimes.com/news/2296181-418/kolling-veterans-parade-vietnam-war.html
By R.L. Anderson
Nov 17, 2010
Robert Kolling realized at an early age that he had a knack for
getting things done.
Among other accomplishments he has been a healer. The Bolingbrook
resident has done as much as anyone to heal the wounds of a nation
and the country's veterans while tending to his own physical challenges.
Kolling's healing abilities can be traced back to the Vietnam War.
He served with the Army with the First Cavalry Division as a sniper.
He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds suffered in a November
1969 ambush that cost him his right leg. Eight years ago he had a
liver transplant, having contracted hepatitis C, likely through blood
transfusions years earlier when rehabbing in Army hospitals.
During the week of Veterans Day this year, Kolling, 61, finds himself
deeply involved in organizing a special weekend for veterans next
year involving another kind of healing.
He is chairman of the committee that is organizing a commemorative
celebration in June that will mark the 25th anniversary of an event
that is widely remembered as the turning point in the country's
treatment of, and respect for, veterans of the Vietnam War.
In 1986 the Vietnam War had been over for 11 years but veterans of
the conflict were still embattled. The country's rage about the war
spilled over to the treatment of its veterans. Many were spat upon.
Some were called "baby killers." Even some veterans groups turned
their backs on the younger Vietnam veterans.
"The VFWs wanted nothing to do with us," Kolling stated. "You know,
we were the hippies, not that interested in sitting around and having
a beer, a fish fry, or bingo. It wasn't our thing at the time."
Government bureaucracies dragged their feet in delivering benefits
owed the vets. The Veterans Administration was taking as long as two
years to give disabled vets a hearing on their medical cases,
according to Kolling.
"We hadn't learned yet to hate the war, not the warriors," Kolling
said. "Many vets were enraged, they couldn't get anything done and
they were treated like this. There was a lot of pent-up frustration."
The treatment of Vietnam vets began to improve in 1986.
"We didn't know what to expect," Kolling recalled as what was
envisioned as a modestly sized parade in Chicago spontaneously became
something much larger with lasting impact.
"Before we knew it, this thing had snowballed," said Kolling, who was
on the organizing committee in 1986. "The day of the parade people
just started showing up out of nowhere. People came from around the
country, we had people here from Australia who served in Vietnam with us."
What was supposed to be a small parade ended up with about 200,000
participating veterans and family members proudly marching down the
streets of Chicago, to the adulation, not the protests, of an
estimated 500,000 spectators.
The parade took five hours.
Kolling's photos of the event are reminiscent of the city's recent
celebrations of world championships for the Chicago White Sox and
Chicago Blackhawks. Masses of people brought together in celebration.
"It was an awesome event," Kolling remembered.
The healing had begun.
"An amazing thing happened after that parade," Kolling said. "All of
us being together like that, we realized we were a force. Veterans
organization memberships began to swell. I founded the DuPage County
chapter of Viet Now. We formed that right before the parade and we
had 65 members. Within six months after the parade, we were at 450 members."
"This was a healing process," Kolling said. "We realized the
government wasn't going to do anything if we didn't do something
about it ourselves. We had become a force.
"This wasn't just local," Kolling said. "This swept the country after
the parade."
The 1986 Chicago parade became iconic.
"You talk to any Vietnam veteran and mention 'The Parade' and we all
know exactly what you are referring to," Kolling said.
Now, the memory of "The Parade" is the reason for celebration. The
weekend of June 17-19 is slated as "Welcome Home 2011." The
activities will include a kickoff rally at Navy Pier, including
opening ceremonies, a salute to veterans in attendance recently
returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, and live music performances.
The Palmer House will be the site of a banquet June 18 with Chicago
newscaster Bill Kurtis serving as master of ceremonies.
An interfaith invocation is set for June 19, at the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Plaza. A day-long concert that day will feature a variety of
big name acts. There will also be an art exhibit and more.
Kolling said that most planned events are free and open to the
public, except for the banquet dinner and the concert. For
information, visit www.serviceandhonor.org.
Kolling volunteered to be chairman of the 2011 event after the
previous chairman Chuck Lofrano succumbed last August to pancreatic
cancer, which was likely triggered from his exposure to Agent Orange
while serving with the Marines during the Vietnam War.
Lofrano, author of the recently published book "In Spite of It All,"
which details his experiences during and after the war, was the
catalyst for planning a 25th anniversary salute to the parade and its
participants.
In spearheading the June 2011 events, Kolling seeks to honor the
legacy and efforts of Lofrano, as well as the late Tom Stack, who
served as founder of the parade 25 years ago.
Kolling said special attention will also be paid to the newest
veterans, the generation that has served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Through the years Kolling has remained active in veterans causes even
as he endured considerable hospital time dealing with the effects of
his lost leg and liver disease.
As chronicled on his personal website, www.robertkolling.com,
Kolling's physical condition deteriorated to the extent that he
required a liver transplant to survive.
That procedure took place on Veterans Day 2002. He received a page at
11 a.m. notifying him of the availability of a donated liver. Surgery
began at 11 p.m.
Kolling is doing much better these days as are many of the veterans
to whom he's devoted so much attention over the years. Healing is under way.
.
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