Pathways Honors Our Veterans: Special Recognitions Continue During the Pandemic
One of our important traditions at Pathways is to officially recognize our patients who have served in the military.
Our volunteers are continuing to honor these veterans, even though the COVID-19 pandemic has required them to be creative in their approach.
Because of the pandemic, most veteran recognitions currently take place outside and include curbside drop-offs of their certificates.
During one recent visit, U.S. Navy veteran Lynn Bywaters (center) and his wife, Noreen (right), posed for a quick photo with volunteer Bart Bartholomew (left), who delivered the recognition certificate. Like Lynn, Bart is also a Navy veteran who served in the Vietnam War. We are grateful for our volunteers who make these recognitions possible. Volunteer Amanda Kelley identifies our hospice patients who have served, prepares recognition materials, and assigns those patients to one of four Pathways volunteers, all of whom also have military experience. You can read a bit about their backgrounds below.
As Veteran’s Day approaches, we thank all of our veteran volunteers for their service to Pathways as well as to our country.
Bart Bartholomew served in the U.S. Navy (1967-70). Bart was a vertical replenishment specialist on an amphibious assault aircraft carrier, the USS Valley Forge LPH 8. He hooked pallets of cargo to the bottom of helicopters to be flown to our ground troops in Vietnam.
Steven Jetter served in the U.S. Navy (1966-70) as a quartermaster (navigation). He spent three of his four years in Vietnam.
Dave Sudduth served in the U.S. Army (1969-71). For two years in Vietnam, Dave ran riverboat missions up and down the Mekong River carrying troops, supplies, ammunition, helicopter fuel, and occasional pallets of Pabst Blue Ribbon!
Jim Ling served in the U.S. Air Force (1954-75; 21 years active duty). Jim started as a transport navigator, went to graduate school for nuclear engineering, and then spent four years with the Army Nuclear Power Program developing small nuclear power plants. He served four years on the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, one year in Vietnam (1970-71) as director of the Air Combat Analysis Division at 7th Air Force Headquarters, and three years in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.