The first Arkansas post of the Catholic War Veterans & Auxiliary was established this spring at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.
Father Nathan Ashburn, associate pastor and a military veteran, is leading the group’s effort to organize the national service organization in central Arkansas.
The organization is for Catholics who have served or are currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The auxiliary is available to family members of the service members and veterans. These families work with veterans, serving the community.
Auxiliary member and parishioner Janet Malloy has worked with veterans for three decades. She and her husband, Bill. a veteran, moved to Benton in 1997 from western Maryland.
“In 1993, I started helping veterans with claims. It was 26 pages, front and back, very difficult to navigate through the claims process,” she said. ”After this experience and word of mouth, I found myself starting to help other veterans as well. As a result, I stayed involved and applied to an organization to become an Accredited (National Veterans Service Officer), which I had to pass a test to join.”
Filling out a packet today involves an easier process. Now Malloy is volunteering with the Catholic War Veterans & Auxiliary.
“There is great satisfaction helping veterans being compensated for their service to our country,” she said.
Post #1836 is named after Lt. Colonel John Hennelly, a parishioner, Marine and longtime instructor for Catholic High School’s JROTC who died in 1995.
“The plan is to reach out to our Catholic veterans as members of the organization and to help all veterans in our area, not only the ones who are Catholic,” Father Ashburn said. “It could include local families struggling with a soldier overseas. Those on active duty or the military in general with their own faith.”
After serving during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 82nd Airborne Division, Father Ashburn’s hope is that this organization would help to revitalize the younger soldiers.
“My challenge is to get the younger generation involved in our organization’s activities and to also participate in their faith,” he said.
Deacon Mike Rector, a former Marine who served in an artillery unit in South Vietnam from 1968-1969, said, “The soldiers returning from that conflict were treated with disrespect, contempt and anger. There is still an element of that division that exists in our own society to this present day.”
With the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he believes some veterans are scarred, leaving them with physical and mental health issues. He hopes the Catholic War Veterans & Auxiliary will help these soldiers and their families.
“I got involved with CWV because I believe in its core values of love for God, country and home,” he said. “As a Catholic organization, I envision it as a tool to support and heal our military families. Through the eyes of faith and service to each other and local communities, we can make a difference by bringing an awareness to our communities the plight of our veterans…”
Mike’s wife, Roz, an auxiliary member, said, “Mike has always been very faithful, loyal and patriotic to the Lord and our country. This journey has not been easy as I’ve watched Mike deal with his own medical issues and scars from serving in a war.”
After his tour of duty in Vietnam, parishioner James Badami served in Germany as a staff judge advocate for the Army’s 32nd Army Air Defense from 1978-1982. Now retired, he received help with VA documentation from Malloy, as a certified National Veterans Service Officer.
“Her work was a tremendous help to my family,” he said. “These services will help any veteran. We need to help them, especially the young veterans, and this organization will do this very thing.”
Visit thecwv.org to learn more about the organization. For more information, contact Badami at (501) 912-7333 or Deacon Rector at (501) 681-8137.
CORRECTION: The original publication of this article stated that Father Ashburn served in the Gulf War. He actually served during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 82nd Airborne Division.
