Wounded in Action USMC Vietnam Vet Sleeping in Alleys in Frederick, Maryland.

Red Beard

Last Friday morning I was walking past a store here in Frederick, Maryland when a hobo-looking guy asked me for a light. We shared a cigarette and “Red Beard” told me his story.

When he was 16 he lied about his age and enlisted in the USMC. He was shipped to Vietnam and wound in action. A round hit him in the right side of his body and exited his left leg. The doctors told him he would never walk again. He was shipped back to the states for medical treatment. When he was discharged from the hospital he got a bad paper discharge from the Marines for fraudulent enlistment.

Red Beard must be about 60 years old judging from the years he gave me while he was telling me his story. He’s an alcoholic, I know because he pulled a flask out of his coat and offered me a drink. I declined. He has open sores on his hand and his beard is long and shaggy and mostly gray with a few remaining strands of red. He told me he had been stabbed and shot a few times after he was booted out of the Marines. He’s currently sleeping in alleys. He’s filthy and looks like he’s got one foot in the grave. A police squad car drove by and he gave them the finger.

I asked him if he had been to the VA to try to try to get some help and he told me the last time he went was four years ago they wouldn’t help him because he had a bad paper discharge. I made him an offer. I offered to meet him the next day so he could take a shower at my apartment and wash his clothes in my washing machine and I’d drive him to the VA hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia and we would talk to them about getting some help. He was reluctant but finally agreed to meet me in front of a tavern he hangs out at on Market Street here in Frederick the next morning. I gave Red $40 and went on my way.

Then I drove to the VA hospital in Martinsburg that same day and talked to a helpful guy in the Eligibility Office there, explaining Red’s situation and asking if they would be willing to talk to him tomorrow. The guy said they would talk to him but with a bad paper discharge there probably wasn’t much they could do.

The next morning I parked in front of the tavern on Market Street at the appointed time but Red didn’t show up. After an hour passed I left. My guess is Red went on a bender with the $40 I gave him and passed out.

I’m a Vietnam veteran myself (Grunt C/2/503 173^rd Airborne Brigade 65-66). This guy was wounded in Action. He was almost killed fighting for his country and now he’s sleeping in alleys. I don’t think he’ll make it through the winter if he doesn’t get some help soon.

This just isn’t right. If anyone out there knows how to get some real help for Red please email me at [email protected].

I emailed an association for underage veterans but they haven’t responded. After this is published at Before It’s News I’m going to email the link to the local paper here in Frederick. I’m going to email it to Sgt. Shaft at the Washington Times. I’m going to knock on the doors of local veterans’ groups. This just isn’t right. If a bartender serves a drink to an underage kid the bar would likely lose its license but the USMC kicked a sixteen year old crippled boy out into the street. This just isn’t right.