Page 6 - Aerotech News and Review, October 30, 2020

Vets4Veterans started engines with a car show,

never looked back

Photograph by Evelyn Kristo
Visitors to Poncitlan Square in Palmdale, take in rows of classic cars on display at the Vets4Veterans 10th Anniversary Classic Car and Motorcycle Show and Poker Run, Sept. 15. 2019. The afternoon
event provided a fun-filled day with motorcycles, hot rods and classic cars, along with food, family entertainment and information booths providing direct support and services to local veterans.

by Dennis Anderson said. “That’s what altruism is. When working closely with current Vets- named for Tom Hilzendeger. will be flying with a lot of names at-
special to Aerotech News we do good things for others, it makes 4Veterans President Jack Woolbert, That is how the group became rec- tached honoring members of Vets-
us feel good.” and the late Hilzendeger’s wife, Me- ognized by the City of Palmdale as 4Veterans.
The VA’s Vet Center for counsel- That got Hilzendeger’s engine run- gan. With their volunteer board, they one of the beneficiaries for the Nov. As Rice, the combat veteran turned
ing had not been open all that long, ning. He gathered his veterans talking meet regularly, keep the books tidy, 1-11 Field of Healing and Honor. therapist observed, they made their
but they had no problem finding cus- group together, and they talked about and help find shelter, security and ed- Somewhere out there American flags lives better by doing good things.
tomers. organizing a car show to raise some ucation for a cohort of veterans who
A lot of Vietnam veterans were money for veterans in need of help. will remember them.
coming around to the idea that the Then the talk turned into action. That Recently, the Palmdale City Coun-
shadow hanging over them for a gen- was 10 years ago. cil recognized Parsamyan as “Veter-
eration might just be PTSD. The Vets4Veterans team got start- an of the Year,” and it was a fitting
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is ed raising money and taking dona- recognition, as the honor previously
a condition that often afflicts combat tions with a little car show they held went to Hilzendeger.
veterans. They have other issues too, in the parking lot of the Vet Center at But both veterans — Parsamyan is
like military sexual trauma, and gen- 38925 Trade Center Drive. a 9/11 veteran who served in Afghan-
eralized anxiety disorder. Hilzendeger died not long after istan with the 10th Mountain Division
That is why veterans headed into Memorial Day this year after a long — say the credit is not theirs. Rather,
the newly opened Vet Center filling struggle with cancer. Nobody thought it is the team of volunteers, veterans
the place up. It’s a safe place that at he would live so long because it was and the friends and family who sup-
once observes and respects the mili- serious, but the man was tough as a port them that make the organization
tary, but first priority is to respect G.I. boot. He left a legacy and big hum.
the veteran. Professional therapists, boots to fill. Before the pandemic descended,
most of them with either military or Before Hilzendeger died at the regular as clockwork, the organiza-
combat time themselves, are the ones age of 70, he and his volunteer corps tion ran its annual Vets4Veterans Car
who work on those issues with their had raised enough money to buy and and Motorcycle Show, usually at Pon-
brothers and sisters. rehab a transitional house for vet- citlan Square. Also a golf tournament,
“Tom Hilzendeger was one of erans at risk for shelter. The group most years a 5K or 10K run, and the
them,” recalled Gerry Rice, a licensed also underwrites tens of thousands of group’s annual fundraising dinner.
marriage and family therapist. dollars in scholarships for veterans “We do it because of the veterans,”
Like Hilzendeger, Rice was a com- transitioning from active military to Megan Hilzendeger said. “They are
bat veteran of the Vietnam War. Hil- attend Antelope Valley College. Ad- the ones we do it for. They have al-
zendeger, who dodged rockets and ditionally, they provide emergency ready served. We are grateful for
mortars while running water to the grants for groceries and overnight what they already did.”
troops of the 1st Cavalry Division, stays. Their principal contributions to A major regional non-profit,
wanted to know “how to live better,” improving the lives of at-risk veterans Homes4Families, is building a Vet-
Rice remembered. is hope, and respect. erans-Enriched Neighborhood of
“We had a group, and they were “I loved Tom Hilzendeger,” said dozens of homes, built in the style of
trying to work this out, and he asked Army veteran John Parsamyan. “He Habitat for Humanity. Like Vets4Vet-
me about the word, ‘altruism,’ what was a friend, a brother, and he was a erans it is a veteran-enriched grass-
did that mean?” Rice reminisced. mentor, and like a father to me.” roots effort. One of the first homes Photograph by Dennis Anderson
“If you want to live better, and Parsamyan joined the organization, to house a veteran family in the cen- Vets4veterans charter founders, Tom Hilzendeger and Megan Hilzendeger at
feel better, do something good,” Rice becoming its vice president recently, tral Palmdale neighborhood will be Poncitlan Square, Memorial Day 2020.
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