Page 36 - December 2015

officer Mike Underwood
Still helping vets
Mike Underwood spent a year-and-a-half as a Marine serv- ing in Vietnam, and while the war is behind him, he has never forgotten his brothers in arms. About 10 years ago, Under- wood joined theVietnamVeterans of America (VVA) Chapter 242 with a simple idea mind:
“Helping people, helping my fellow veterans,” emphasized Underwood, who put in 30 years with the Chicago Police Department as a patrol officer around the city before retiring in 2002. “I get a lot out of it.”
VVA offers a variety of support, and Underwood himself remains active by raising money, collecting items for the needy and helping to guide veterans to the services they need.
“We raise money for Hines VA Hospital,” Underwood noted. “We go there every Christmas to give (veterans) gift cards.”
In these colder winter months, the VVA takes donations of coats and blankets to distribute to the homeless living on Lower Wacker Drive.
“Some of them are veterans, so we try to hook them up,” he explained.
Underwood points out that many veterans are unaware of health care and other benefits they are eligible to receive. He frequently helps vets get lined up for meetings at the chapter office to discuss military benefits.
“We help everybody. We take everyone in,” Underwood underscored.
The VVA also hosts two fundraisers a year – a barbecue and a sock hop – and receives support from various organizations, including the FOP. Underwood thanked FOP President Dean Angelo, Sr. for his ongoing generosity to the VVA.
All of it comes in the spirt of VVA’s goal to never let another generation of veterans be forgotten, according to Under- wood.
“I like helping other vets,” he shared.
36 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2015