By Sheri Trusty, Seneca County Media Relations Coordinator
Another Seneca County Honor Bus took off from the Seneca County Fairgrounds on Nov. 1, carrying about 30 veterans to Washington, D.C. The Honor Bus offers free, two-night trips to the capital for Seneca County veterans.
Marine Corps veteran Tom Schubach has visited D.C. before, but, he said, “it’s been years.” He was looking forward to seeing the new memorials that have been installed since his last visit.
“And I’m going for the general camaraderie,” he said.
Making connections is a key element of the Honor Bus trips. Veterans of different generations, different branches and different wars can bond over the similarities that flow through the military across the eras, such as fear, heroism, loss and triumph.
Schubach stepped quickly from youth to manhood when he joined the military about 50 years ago.
“I joined the Marine Corps the year I graduated high school – in 1972,” he said.
Schubach served as a stateside electrician for about six years during the Vietnam War. He went into the Marine Corps as a youth and walked out with skills and character that would carry him successfully through life.
“I learned discipline and the attitude that you can do anything if you put your mind to it,” he said. “I learned you don’t give up.”
Schubach was among about 30 veterans who attended the Honor Flight trip. Several people stopped by the Seneca County Fairgrounds to see them off, including Seneca County Commissioners Bill Frankart and Anthony Paradiso.
“I really enjoyed attending the second Honor Bus departure,” Frankart said. “I enjoyed hearing the stories of their time serving our country and seeing their excitement to get on the bus. For some, it was the first time, and for others, it had been years since they’ve traveled to Washington.”
Memories stirred easily as the veterans mulled around the Seneca County Fair Pavilion while they waited to board the bus. Paul Jones said he had many stories to tell of his service in Vietnam, and he shared one. Jones served as a radio operator with the 173rd in 1965 and 1966.
“We were part of an operation called Attleboro,” Jones said, referring to a search and destroy operation.
During a lull in his duties, Jones unexpectedly reconnected with an old friend, Pete Perry, from his hometown in Kentucky.
“I took a break and set my radio down. I saw him going by and thought I knew him from somewhere. Then I realized I knew him from high school,” Jones said.
Jones called out to him, saying, “Where you going, Pete?”
“I’m going to get me some water,” Perry replied.
The men talked for a few minutes and then didn’t see each other again for decades. Amidst the trauma and terror of war, Jones and Perry clung to that moment of connection for the rest of their lives.
“I hadn’t seen him in about fifty years. My wife, Ruth, and I went back to my hometown for a visit and started thinking that Pete must live here somewhere,” Jones said.
Jones stopped by a store and saw three men who “looked like they came out of Deliverance.” Jones asked them if they knew where Pete Perry lived. One of them spued a wad of tobacco from his lips before answering his question.
Jones was just a mile from Perry’s farm, so he and Ruth made a surprise visit. Perry’s wife greeted them in the front yard and told them that Perry was on the back porch. As Jones rounded the back corner of the house, ready to surprise Perry, he yelled out, “Where you going, Pete?”
Without a hesitation, Perry yelled back, “I’m going to get me some water.”