BY KYLE BARNETT

Staff Reporter

RESERVE – At age 20 Larry Smith was holed up in a Vietcong bunker as bombs and Agent Orange were falling from the sky into a jungle aflame with napalm. Earlier in the day his company was separated while investigating the position of a Vietcong gunner. The Air Force did not know that Smith, along with two platoons of men, were still in the area. When the commander called in backup he put half of his own men in harms way.

“I’d still like to get my hands on that commander,” says Smith.

A little over a year earlier, against his mother’s wishes, he had quit high school in his hometown Laurel,

Mississippi to join the Army where he became an infantryman and was sent to the jungles of Southeast Asia.

“I should have stayed in school. I encourage any school age child to stay in school,” Smith says. “I should have worked harder and stayed in school. It is the biggest mistake I’ve made in my life.”

Fast forward 37 years, Smith was driving a 18-wheeler on a Louisiana interstate. He had a stroke going 65 miles-per-hour.

“That was a lot of fun I’ll tell you,” says Smith. The doctors would tell him later that the Agent Orange he was exposed to in Vietnam was the source of his diabetes, which in turn caused his stroke.

Now, two years later, Smith requires frequent care. The left side of his body is paralyzed and he can only walk with assistance. Not wanting to be a burden on his wife he became a resident of the Southeast Louisiana War Veteran’s Home in Reserve.

“This is a wonderful place. I’ve seen nursing homes that I wouldn’t put my dog in,” Smith says. “Great staff in here.”

30 year soldier, Eugene Weinert, wheelchair bound veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars agrees.

“This is great, you can’t beat it. Good people are running it, and sometimes you have good nurses,” he looks at the nurse sitting on his bed next to him and laughs. When asked how he won the bronze star featured in a box above his bed he answers, “I guess I saved a couple soldiers lives.”

The Southeast Louisiana War Veterans Home opened its doors in June of this year. The 93,000 square foot facility currently houses 36 veterans. 2-4 new veterans are being admitted each week. The facility can accommodate a maximum of 156 Veterans.

Assistant Administrative Manager Paul Hiestand, a veteran himself with 15 years in the National Guard including a year in the Iraq war, says the veteran’s home could be admitting severely injured soldiers from the current war.

“Working here it just means that much more to me,” Hiestand said.

To further help the veterans the home is seeking donations in an effort to raise $300,000 for their “Resident Activity Fund.” The activity fund will assist in the purchase of equipment, supplies and entertainment for veterans.

Proceeds of the fund will go towards a gazebo, a deck for the home’s pond, a specialized wheelchair swing, and special outings for the veterans including trips to local events, movies, art galleries, the National World War II Museum and community fairs and festivals.

“Any financial contribution or donation/services to the facility will make a significant difference in the life of a veteran,” says Activities Director Sonya Aucoin.

In addition to the activity fund the home is seeking to fill its library. Book donations will be accepted as well.

Donations will be acknowledged and published in the monthly newsletter as well as publicly recognized in a prominent location in the facility. Donors may remain anonymous if preferred. Checks should be made payable to Southeast Louisiana War Veterans Home, P.O. Box 511, 4080 W. Airline Highway, Reserve, LA 70084.