A sad War Hero Story

From a friend:

I know this is not the forum for this but you are some of the smartest people I know so I appeal to you for any suggestions???? My friend is 65 years old and has stomach cancer. And he may not make it. I am afraid his last days might be spent in an alley somewhere in the cold. So I sent his story to the NY Times, Daily News, NY Post and all the TV stations. Not one single person has gotten back to me. So again I ask for any suggestions??????

VIETNAM WAR HERO TO BE THROWN INTO THE STREET ON THANKSGIVING DAY!

Medals----Silver Star, Purple Heart, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, W/60 Device, Overseas Service Bar.

Sp4 Armondo Leguillow, now 65, proudly served his country in Vietnam and was shot in the face, patched up and sent back to the war. The next time it was much worse. He was shot in the head back and leg and ended up in a coma. His estranged wife was sent a letter that he was MIA. He woke up in a hospital in Japan with partial amnesia. He was shipped to a hospital in Korea, then discharged in 1972 from the Veterans hospital in St. Albans, NY.

He went home to his elderly mother, where she cared for him as he battled a crippling case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and severe depression. He did not leave his room for over a year.

Unable to work, he filed for Disability Benefits which he had earned with his own blood. To his surprise the Army had no record of his service. He called, wrote and fought for over 20 years to no avail until a letter to President Clinton in 1996 finally unearthed his long lost records.

By that time he had a flourishing acting career and did not need Disability Benefits. Tragedy struck once again and his mother now 81, and disabled, her sister 84, and a mentally handicapped cousin, 67, were left with no one to care for them. He abandoned his acting career and returned to New York to care for them. His mother died at age 94, 5 months ago.

Now, he himself has severe health problems which hamper his ability to work. With no food, and his rent overdue by several months he was forced to apply for Welfare and Food Stamps. However, he never stopped looking for a job. The VA came through with a job. But Welfare told him he would not be eligible for help if he was working. So he did not take the job. After five months of application after application, day after day, after day spent on the hard chairs in the welfare office, they refused to help him.

So now this WAR HERO, who was so willing to give his life for his country is being evicted; thrown into the street on the day most of us will be celebrating, eating turkey, and giving thanks. We all have something to thank him for, but will we? Is this the way we treat our HEROES?

By: Gladys Williams- 718 829-2122

Contact: Armando Leguillow- 347-851-5571