The Daily Tribune from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin • Page 10

Nobody seems to knov very much about Vietnam veterans in South Wood County. There may be 500 of them or more, but that's only a guess. The veterans themselves have little contact'with each other, since they returned singly, rather than in the divisions or regiments met with bands and cheering crowds at train stations after the two world wars. There has never been any greeting of heroes home from Vietnam, and now it seems that the Vietnam veteran may become the "forgotten veteran." Veterans are younger than ever before. Most are in their early twenties thev return, compared with World War II veterans who were in their middle and late twenties.

They return to a job market which is generally worse than when they entered the service. Unemployment compensation paid to veterans in Wisconsin has jumped 38 per cent since last year, although nationally, veteran unemployment shows no a slight decrease in the last few years. In July, 7.3 per cent of the country's 4.2 million veterans were actively seeking work. This may seem like a very high rate, but it exceeds the 6.5 per cent unemployment rate for non-veterans of the same age group by less than one percentage point The state employment office in Wisconsin Rapids reports that government employment offices offer more preferential treatment to veterans than ever before. But veterans are having difficulty finding work, and their problem fails to draw much attention in a time of high national unemployment, currently at 5.6 per cent John Gronski, of the local state employment office, says the 7.3 per cent unemployment figure probably applies fairly closely to veterans in this area.

Again, no one really knows. There are no statistics available for the number of veterans receiving unemployment compensation in South Wood County. Gronski, who is at work on a masters degree thesis on veteran unemployment in the area, suspects that the slightly higher unemployment rate for Vietnam veterans may be explained by the between the soldier's discharge ariS the point which he really feels like accepting employment. "The fact is," Gronski said, "sometimes these guys just don't fee! like getting a job right away after coming home from Vietnam Vietnam. And after what they've gone through, who could blame them?" Any veteran with at least 90 days in the service and an honorable discharge qualifies for unemployment compensation.

Most unemployed veterans- in this area receive either J84 or $76 per week for a maximium of 34 weeks. Returning servicemen have legal reemployment rights requiring that their former employer re-hire them to whatever job they left when entering the service. But as one local veteran observed, "many of us didn't have jobs when we went in." In most cases, veterans are unable to find jobs that involve skills acquired in the service. A survey in 1970 showed only one in five transferred his service skills to a job. Once employed, average starting pay in 1970 for Vietnam veterans in the nation was $130 per week.

Although benefits to veterans have increased in some cases, there have been some notable failures in government attempts to re-integrate the Vietnam soldier into the society that sent him to a mysterious country for an even more mysterious purpose. Project Transition was designed to provide job training for soldiers before they leave the service. But in 1970, only one in 50 soldiers was receiving this training, and this year in South Wood County, only one in 100 veterans had received training through Project Transition, according to Gronski. Many more local veterans rely on federal support for vocational training after leaving the service. Last year, 68 veterans used GI bill funds to attend the VTAE institute in Wisconsin Rapids.

Employment difficulties are often the least of the veteran's problems. Equally important is the complex psychological transition from a guerilla war to "normal" American society. The soldier in Vietnam has a confusing set of goals. Not even the enemy is clearly defined. Harvard psychologist Charles Levy has shown thai the Vietnam soldier's tension and confusion produces special problems in returning to civilian life.

The reflex violence required for survival in Vietnam is not always easily controlled after the soldier has been discharged. Levy found that from a sample of 60 Boston Vietnam veterans, two were convicted of murder, and five others were charged with attempting it. Drug use continues to be a serious problem among returning Vietnam soldiers. Local officials don't know to what extent veterans are involved in crime or drug abuse. But one clear pattern is a desire by the local veteran to simply leave his war experiences as far behind as possible.

Vietnam veterans do not eagerly join veterans organizations. Lt. Donald Knuth of the Wisconsin Rapids Police Department has worked extensively with nationwide membership rolls for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He says "there's a real problem in communication" between Vietnam veterans and the much older veterans of Korea and World War II. While some Vietnam veterans are active in the organization, in general, Knuth says "they're not joiners.

You have to seek them out." Despite the loss of a leg in Vietnam, Phillip Salzman stil! rides motorcycles and would like to get a job in heavy equip. rnent operation. Phillip Salzman knew I was taking a chance Phillip Salzman, 22, lost a leg in Vietnam a month and a half after he arrived there, working as a heavy equipment operator. "I wasn't drafted. I enlisted, and I knew for a fact I was taking a chance.

Well, Host." Salzman, Rt. 2, Arpin, spent over eight months in a Denver hospital after his injury, but lie is far from being embittered by the" experience. "I love life, and I'm very happy now," he said. He continues to support the war effort. "A lot of people have died, so we have 'to back them up," he said.

But when he spent those months in the hospital, he said "I began to think twice about the whole thing." Like -a lot of veterans, Salzman seems to have mixed feelings about the war. Asked if he felt Vietnam veterans are treated differently than veterans from earlier wars, Salzman said, "Yes, I've noticed in bars, guys from World War II might get recognition for what they've done. But a guy comes back from Vietnam and people think he must have been kinda stupid because he couldn't get out of it." Salzman says he thinks older people "still think the veteran is good. But young people tomorrow's old people they're just super-down on the war." He is occasionally approached by college kids who demand an explanation for the war. "But I was involved in only a small part of it, and after trying to talk to them for about 10 or 15 minutes, I usually throw up my hands and walk away." Salzman has been out of the service now for two years but he went through a long period of wanting to do nothing at all.

"Actually, I still feel that way," he said, "but I'm starting to come out of it now." He began going to school, I knew it, I was back in a hospital in Milwaukee with more leg problems." He would now like to begin working if the right job were available. "This might sound kind of funny," he said, "but I'd like to go back into heavy equipment operation." Despite the loss of a leg, Salzman still rides motorcycles. A friend races Salzman's souped-up Suzuki on weekends at Kaukauaa. "A Norton beat us last weekend and it shouldn't have happened he said. "So of course we gotta go back.

We've gotta beat that Norton." The forgotten veterans? There's little of the proud camaraderie of veterans of earlier wars among local Vietnam veterans. The Gym Mill bar in Stevens Point seems to be the only popular meeting place for Vietnam vets in the area. The bartender there lost an arm in Vietnam. Veterans attending the university at Point gather at the bar, perhaps seeking refuge from the blunt inquiries of college students opposed to the war. Many local veterans express resentment against the South Vietnamese, doubting their willingness to defend themselves.

Those veterans that do express support for the war are usually cautious and qualified in their remarks about something that seems too vast and complicated to be easily understood. In short, if the Vietnam veteran is becoming the forgotten veteran, that suits him fine. He wants no glory, though he would like an education and a job. Charles Misslin 'Just glad we're getting out Charles Misslin, 25. 581 Elm St, considers himself lucky.

He one of three men in. a company of 150 who was not killed, or wounded in Vietnam. He was the company radio operator and, he said, "many tim'es guys fell right in front of me." As in the case of many Vietnam veterans, his experience had a hardening effect on his outlook. you learn not to trust he said. He's well settled now, with a wife and a job as manager of Bill's Super Market.

He returned in April, 1970, just before paper mill layoffs increased unemployment in the area. Like other veterans at the time of their discharge, Misslin felt like doing nothing at all. But he wanted to get married and began looking for work immediately. Through on-the-job training arranged by the Wood County Veterans Service Office, he began work at the supermarket he now manages. Misslin feels his veteran status has been an advantage to him since his return.

He no prejudice in the community against the Vietnam veteran and he feels no embarrassment at having fought in Vietnam. Although he was drafted, he continues to believe the war was justified. "The country went in one direction and we should have continued in that direction." However, he ao longer feels qualified to comment on the direction of the-war sines Ms return in 1970. "I don't know who to believe about the bombing now. just glad we're getting out of it." Misslin feels the resentment against South Vietnamese soldiers common among returning veterans.

He felt that the South Vietnamese were often reluctant soldiers and that their troops were sometimes as destructive to villages as were the Viet Cong. He now -expects the U.S. will have to stay on in an advisory capacity, but, he said, "it was the wrong kind of war" to be fought with a large scale military commitment. James Schnabel had missed 2 years out ot my lite' Charles Misslin "When I first went to Vietnam, I went with the intention of just bringing myself back alive," James Schnabel recalled. But Schnabel, 22, became more involved in his work as an adviser and stayed on six months beyond the one-year tour of However, his feelings about the war now are typical of many veterans who feel that time spent serving the cause might better have been spent some other way.

When Schnabel, 448 Greenwood returned from Vietnam in May, he didn't have much difficulty readjusting to life at home. "I just felt I had missed two years out of my life," he said. "I could have used the time better, and I wanted to try hard to make up for it." He continues to feel that his own advisory work with the South Vietnamese was positive and helpful, but he believes "we should definitely pull out of there." Schanbel, like many veterans, was frustrated with his attempts to help the South Vietnamese defend themselves against Communism. "They expected us to do everything for them and besides, I feel Communism might be helpful to the South Vietnamese," he said. Schnabel will use GI bill benefits this fall to study history and political science at St.

Norbert College in De Pere. But he doesn't plan on talking much about his experiences in Vietnam. "I try to steer away from that," he said. Some veterans' benefits Information on veterans' benefits can be obtained at the Wood County Veterans Service Office in the courthouse. GI bill education payments of $175 per month for single veterans enrolled full time in college or vocational school.

Additional funds for each dependent. Job-finding assistance. Manpower retraining programs and on-the-job training. Vocational rehabilitation for disabled veterans. Loans for education up to $1,575.

Home loans up to $21,000 at seven per cent interest with no down payment. Loans for mobile homes, farms and businesses. Pending federal legislation would raise GI bill education payments to $250 per month with added amounts for each dependent. Job training programs would be increased by 48 per cent. Edward Hager 'Being a vet hasn't helped much in finding a lob' Written by David Kimball Photos by Tribune Staff Edward Hager, 23, doesn't fit the now familiar image of the 'Veteran against the war." He feels a confidence in the military which seems unusual in an age when thousands of veterans are involved in antiwar protests.

Hager, 510 32nd was a helicopter pilot serving nine months in Vietnam. Although he flew in a combat zone, he 'says he was "lucky because we only got hit three times." one of these hits', Hager ended up in the hospital, where he wasn't so lucky. The hospital was attacked and an explosion blew out both of his ear drums. Now fully recovered, Hager left the service as a captain in March of this year- He's completing work on a commercial fixed-wing pilot's license at Midstate Airways, with the Veterans Administration paying 90 per cent of his- flight training costs. Although Hager was born and raised here, he would move anywhere with his wife and six-month-old baby if he could find a job as a commercial pilot.

"Being a vet hasn't helped much in finding a job," he said. Hager feels the Vietnam veteran is not as well respected as he should be. But he continues to believe strongly in the Vietnam effort and is more willing to talk about the war than many veterans. Asked what he felt about Vietnam veteran demonstrations against the war at the Republican convention, Hager said, "I don't think most veterans oppose the war." Perhaps his continued faith in the military has made it easier for him to return to civilian life. "I had no big problem in adjusting," he said.

Bur. his unemployment compensation won't last forever, and if he doesn't find a job opening soon, Hager said he may return to the military. "The army has been good to me." Hager.