[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 73 (Tuesday, June 9, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5995]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO DONALD BODETTE--A VETERAN'S VETERAN

 Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a 
fallen hero. His name is Donald Bodette and he passed away last August 
10th after a long battle with cancer. However, his legacy lives on and 
he will be honored on June 14th at the Dodge Development Center in 
Rutland.
  Don retired from the Marine Corps in 1968 and received a Purple Heart 
for wounds sustained in Vietnam. For those of us who knew Don, This 
information was a well kept secret. He was never inclined to tell you 
about his heroics. He did tell war stories as a way to draw other 
Vietnam Veterans out of their isolation. Don's theory was a very simple 
one and is the premise used today to help Vietnam Veterans worldwide--
discussing traumatic war experiences with another veteran with a 
similar experience is the best way to heal.
  An article in The Rutland Herald on August 12, 1997 announced that 
Donny had passed away, at age 48, at the VA hospital in White River 
Junction. As I read, I was struck by some of the tales recounted by his 
fellow veterans. Three of Don's best friends, Jake Jacobsen, Albert 
Trombley and Clark Howland, talked about meeting Don through a 
newspaper ad that only said, ``Vietnam Veterans, we need to talk.'' 
According to Trombley, ``He didn't have any master plan. He would stop 
and look for people, he would put advertisements in the paper to get 
veterans to come out, and once he found one or two, they would find two 
or three. He got all around the state of Vermont.''
  In the late 1970s, Don was instrumental in shaping the course of a 
fledgling organization known as the Vietnam Veterans of America (VA). 
He believed that the VA should be more than an activist group, and Don 
was so successful in his efforts to establish local chapters that 
Rutland, Vermont boasts the first VA chapter in the country. According 
to Jake Jacobsen, ``Donny and I never worried about membership. If 
we're good enough, they'll want to join us.''
  Don helped found the Veterans Assistance Office (VAO) in Rutland 
sixteen years ago. It was designed as a non-profit community based 
organization to support veterans in a variety of different ways. The 
VAO still serves in that capacity today. The VAO's current director, 
Clark Howland, says of Bodette, ``I owe him a lot. He helped an unknown 
number. I'd say it would run in the thousands of veterans. And what 
we're doing now is just to carry on for what Donny started.''
  Farewell Don. Your legacy of service will live on through your 
selfless acts that improved the lives of countless Vermont 
veterans.

                          ____________________