Page 42 - October 2021

Check Points
Medal of Honor winner highlights Lodge 7 event that provides unprecedented resources to veterans
Medal of Honor honoree Jim “Doc” McCloughan headlined Lodge 7 Military Buddy Check Day by addressing members in the morning and afternoon.
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
n PHOTOS BY JENNIFER SHANAHAN
Military Buddy Check Day at Lodge 7 had already run an emotional marathon when James McCloughan stepped up to the podium at the FOP Hall to address the troops. McCloughan is one of 67 living soldiers who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, so his presence here on Sept. 23 certainly reinforced the Lodge military committee’s mission for the day to offer mental health and wellness and a plethora of support to CPD officers who have served and/or been deployed.
McCloughan had already intensified the fervor in the hall when he made a morning speech to members and shared de- tails of his heroics in Vietnam. In the afternoon encore, sched- uled so another shift of members could attend, he was again re- counting how his company’s air assault into a landing zone near Tam Ky and Nui Yon Hill met with a North Vietnamese ambush that left many of his brothers seriously wounded. He braved en- emy gunfire and taking RPG shrapnel to save 10 of them.
McCloughan then paused his address to sing. Suddenly, the hall was filled with the echoes of “God Bless the U.S.A.,” which McCloughan has performed at so many of these gatherings. He has even shared a stage to sing it with Lee Greenwood. Yes, that Lee Greenwood, the country music star who wrote the song.
“I’ve sung that song since Desert Storm in 1991, and I sang it here because I hope they know they’re cared about, that we ap- preciate them not only as police officers, but as individuals who sacrifice for others. And nobody does that better than those who wear the uniform,” McCloughan declared. “I held those 18-, 19- and 20-year-old boys and I heard their last words and I saw the last breath of life. And I know that the freedom we enjoy has been paid for by warriors, by police officers, by firefighters going back in on 9/11 and all the individuals who give as much of their life for that freedom.”
Mission accomplished
As Lodge 7 FOP President John Catanzara recognized, rare- ly has the FOP hit a high note like it did on this day. Military
42 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2021
Buddy Check Day originated with Lodge 7 Recording Secretary Rob Noceda, who doubles as chair of the FOP military commit- tee. Having been deployed to two combat tours in Iraq as an active-duty Marine from 2003 to 2007, Noceda knows the ad- ditional stress and strain on an officer who has served in the military.
More than a year ago, he first proposed the idea of a day to come together to help members deal with issues that are some- times deep-seated and provide resources to achieve new levels of comfort. The military committee jumped on it as something Lodge 7 had been lacking: showing these members that the union really cares about their well-being.
The mission started with securing McCloughan, who lives in Michigan, as the keynote speaker. Mental health providers from across the country were invited to attend and provide resources to officers who had served. Military committee member Nora Gunning hooked up resources from the VA. A yoga instructor and massage therapist also came. There was a financial services adviser and the Department even participated. Two Vietnam vets who play guitar walked through the crowd during the day, entertaining.
“I think it was mission accomplished because people were saying it was something they had never experienced,” Noceda submitted. “It was important to come up with an event like this