Wicked Local Marblehead: Veterans Day Town Hall, A Time for Sharing

They talked about the invisible disabilities and the importance of transitioning to life stateside, but perhaps the most important aspect of Friday’s Veterans Day Town Hall is that veterans talked.

Held in Abbot Hall, the Town Hall gathering was the second such event hosted by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton.

“Last year’s Town Hall was the single most meaningful thing I’ve done as a U.S. Congressman,” Moulton said. “I hope this will be the beginning of a movement.”

The event brought together veterans of all ages, from all branches of service, both men and women who each shared a story of how they were marked by service.

There is a saying, “we went to war and America went to the mall,” said Jason Sydoriak, who did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. “But it’s a two way street. We have to let them know what it was like, the joy, the sorrow, when we come home.”

Sydoriak’s military career ended when a roadside bomb shattered his feet. His transition home was difficult, he said.

It’s hard to be thrust out of a tight knit community like an infantry unit and into a society that by and large doesn’t understand what serving is like, he said. Then in 2013 it started to rain in Colorado, which is where he was living at the time. Sydoriak volunteered with a disaster response unit made up of veterans and in doing so found his footing in society again.

“It was like going into combat,” he said. “Once again we were a community … I compel all veterans, if struggling, please get involved in your community and for those on the fence about speaking--please do.”

The Invisible Disabilities

Navy veteran Andrea Goldstein is six months out of active duty and recently found herself stuck in an elevator for an hour trying to go up one floor. Not long ago, she would have been the one to make the snarky comment, “that’s what you get for not taking the stairs,” she said. But since being injured in a training accident, she said she’s learned that kind of remark can be hurtful.

As a result of the accident, Goldstein now lives with chronic pain. Dressed in a houndstooth skirt and heels, she said she knows most days she doesn’t look like someone with a disability, but there are days when she can’t get out of bed.

“I’m adapting to my new normal and I know what I’m made of,” she said. “My continued service is to those fighting invisible battles.”

Dennis Magnasco, who served as a medic in Afghanistan, cautioned against over valorizing veterans. Although it’s deserved, Magnasco said when veterans are valorized, it in essence tells them they have done enough, it’s OK to now just sit back and collect their benefits and that can be harmful.

“All veterans want to do is find a way to contribute again,” he said.

While plenty of veterans leave service and go on to do great things, it seems all too often they are the exception not the norm.

“That should be the expectation,” he said. “We need to tell them that that we need them, society needs them, ‘we can’t do this without you.’”

The Invisible Soldier

National Guard Reservist Laurie McGuire said she was shocked to be asked to share her story because no one had every asked before. McGuire’s military police unit got the call to deploy during Desert Storm, where they actually established the routes that later combat elements would use to fight the war.

“I was a squad leader,” she said. “I say I was in charge of Rat Patrol because we had three Humvees with machine guns on top.”

Later her unit escorted the combat units into battle, rounded up prisoners of war and were exposed to burning oil fields and depleted uranium. She said overall her experience was positive.

“But I’m amazed at how little what I did and what my fellow soldiers did means so little to so many people,” she added. “It’s like what we did is just a check mark on a job application.

Wisam Albaidhani understood a bit of McGuire’s frustration, but on a much deeper level. Albaidhani’s brother had been shot twice and his uncle killed while working as translators. He himself received a letter from the local militia containing a bullet and a note, that read, “your judgement day is coming and this is for your heart,” he said.

Albaidhani was lucky, when troops were pulled out, he was able to make his way stateside, but his family, despite many promises, were left behind.

“Now, with this new president I’m scared for my family’s and my safety,” he said.

Andy, who did not give his last name, said he didn’t plan on speaking but after hearing the interpreter he felt compelled.

“Mr Albaidhani came and told a story that hasn’t been told much,” he said.

Andy spent six years working in Naval Intelligence and Counterintelligence, which includes working with the translators, who he called very important. They pick up on cultural nuances, they go on missions, they risk their lives but often they can never go home again because the Taliban knows what they are doing and will kill them.

“The reason I tell you this is because I want you to retell that story,” he said. “When people say they are afraid of Muslims … you tell them they risked not only their own lives, but the lives of their families for us.”

The reason for it all

There were others who shared personal, even funny stories, and those who spoke about ways they could help veterans, but John Ciccone, a retired Naval Explosive Ordnance Officer (EOD) underscored the importance of the entire Town Hall event when he shared a story about his training officer.

“Tom” had given Ciccone a break that led to a 25-year career before he himself skyrocketed to success only to later be kicked out of the Navy for stealing a pair of sneakers. Tom had never quite recovered from a mission where he lost a number of men, Ciccone said. One day Tom took his own life in the parking lot of a hospital emergency room.

Years later when Ciccone was in his own “deep dark place, he was one of the ghosts who visited me.”

Ciccone, tears unabashedly flowing, said if it hadn’t been for the support of his wife, family and community, he could have ended up like Tom.

“Keep this up, Congressman,” he said, turning to Moulton. “I believe if we had this for Tom, he’d still be here.”

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