Veterans Get Help They Need at Annual 'Stand Down' in Newark

When a combat soldier was given the order to “stand down,” explained Emerson Crooks, it was time to leave the battlefield and return to the relative safety of the base, where you could get a hot meal, medical treatment, and, perhaps most importantly, a chance to simply unwind.

“When you say ‘stand down’ to a combat vet, it means a period of rest, a break,” said Crooks, who served in Vietnam with the US Marine Corps.

Although their fighting days may be years or even decades in the past, hundreds of the state’s homeless veterans had the opportunity to similarly recharge Saturday, when the city of Newark hosted a homefront version of the stand down at the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center.

The city’s GI Go Fund, along with the New Jersey National Guard, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the US Veterans Administration and other groups offered the former fighting men a plethora of services and donations at JFK, from blood-pressure checkups to clothing to information about benefits. Volunteers were even on hand to offer haircuts.

The need for such outreach has long existed, and has only grown since veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have begun returning home, said David Cathcart, director of Stand Down New Jersey.

“It’s a large problem,” said Cathcart, another Vietnam veteran, who was awarded two Purple Hearts as a member of the Army’s 173rd Airborne Division.

On Saturday, one of the most important goals was to make sure the men received medical care.

Many of the veterans suffer from “diabetes, a lot of hypertension, they run the whole health gamut,” he said. “If it’s serious enough they’ll be admitted to the hospital.”

Newark aims to become a “model city” in its treatment of homeless veterans, said Jack Fanous, executive director of GI Go. The agency, based at city hall, coordinates outreach to homeless vets in Newark and hopes to start up similar relief efforts in other cities.

Fanous spoke to Mayor Cory Booker about the problem of homeless veterans at a stand down event a number of years ago, he added.

“We met right there at center court and the mayor said, ‘we have to end homelessness for veterans’,” he said. “Our mission was focused during that stand down.”

“The city has been great to us,” Cathcart said.

While the primary focus of the stand down is to meet physical needs, Crooks, the Marine veteran, said such events serve another purpose as well.

“It’s the camaraderie. They get to be around people who understand what it’s like. In combat, coming back to base, you might see all your buddies who you might not see during an operation,” Crooks said.

“I run into guys at the VA all the time who say, ‘when’s the next stand down?’”