Veterans Village opens

#Middlebury #Veterans

We were all there the day Veterans Village officially opened: Sarge, the older veterans brought out in a van borrowed from the senior center, the dormitory crew and even the mayor came, along with a few members of the press and a photographer. The gravel road had been smoothed, several lots had been cleared and two tiny homes had been installed, complete with a few shrubs and potted flowers next to the steps of both homes.

A communal brick barbecue grill, surrounded by a concrete patio and lawn chairs, had been inaugurated into its first service to cook piles of burgers and hot dogs. Voluntary Services up at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital had sent baskets of household stuff like dinnerware and detergent to get the two veterans started. And Sarge’s granddaughter had skipped school to be there and to sing “America the Beautiful” as part of the opening ceremony.

And it was a ceremony. Short speeches were given by those who had never done any of the work, but David, the homeless veteran whose idea Veterans Village had been, gave the shortest speech of all. He merely turned to the two veterans who would now live there and said, “Welcome home.”

With input from social services in town, a list of other interested veterans had quickly grown, leaving Sarge and David to wonder just how many homeless veterans there were in town.

“This could end up being pretty big, almost beyond my capabilities,” David said later, looking around the acreage, his voice shaky until he felt Sarge’s hand on his shoulder.

David took a deep breath and let it out. “OK, I guess I better hustle up a few more homes,” he said, pulling a folded site plan out of his back pocket and a pencil from behind his ear.

Sarge smiled, patted David’s shoulder and sauntered over to the grill to grab a burger before they were all gone.

© 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.