Page 8 - Aerotech News and Review, October 30, 2020

Point Man Group heals hidden wounds of war

by Dennis Anderson
special to Aerotech News
Until the COVID-19 pandemic descended ending most in-
person meetings across a wide swath of activities, the board
room at Antelope Valley College was the meet-and-greet place
for a group of veterans who had been to war.
Sometimes it would be a half-dozen, and sometimes the num-
bers would reach a “baker’s dozen” of more than 12, and most
of the time it was somewhere in-between. Mostly, they were
Vietnam War combat veterans, but not all of them. Occasion-
ally, a Post 9/11 vet of Iraq or Afghanistan checks in, and that
leavens the mix a bit.
“We try not to turn anyone away who served,” said Michael
Bertell, President of Point Man Antelope Valley.
The group is an affiliate of Point Man International Minis-
tries, and it opens and closes with a prayer, but the group is
ecumenical, and all faiths are welcome.
It is about half-way between a “shoot the breeze” session and
a talking out problems therapy group, given that a couple of the
veterans are clinical professionals who work with other vets
impacted by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other service-
connected mental challenges.
“We say that what is said in Point Man stays in Point Man,”
said Bertell, who served as a combat infantryman with the
25th “Tropic Lightning” and 101st Airborne Divisions during
Vietnam.
Bertell has been a staple of the group and helped fill its ranks
since the time he recognized, decades after his service, that he
had been afflicted by PTSD much of his adult life. He experi-
enced an extreme trauma from a “friendly fire” artillery shell
that landed “short” and killed many of his buddies on Christmas
Eve 1970.
One of the group’s original mainstays, George Palermo, was
a Vietnam combat Marine veteran who realized that “talking it
out” really was the treatment, if not the cure, for the PTSD that
afflicts so many veterans of all services whose duties — either
volunteer or drafted — placed them in a combat zone. When
Palermo left the Antelope Valley on a family move, Bertell
became the outpost leader. He said he has learned that sharing
his own story of combat trauma has helped him to heal, and
can help others.
“Trauma is an experience that is so overwhelming that it actu-
ally changes the brain,” said Gerry Rice, another Vietnam in-
fantry veteran who also served with the 101st Airborne. “PTSD
is a normal response to abnormal experience.”
So, the talking circle happens Tuesday evenings. Because
of the COVID-19 situation, Point Man meetings are be- Photograph by Evelyn Kristo
ing held via Facebook Messenger every Tuesday at 6 p.m. Right: A motorcade made up of veterans and supporters escorts the AV Wall, Mobile Vietnam Memorial, Nov. 7, 2019, as they travel
If you are a qualifying veteran, email the organization at a route on Sierra Highway in Lancaster, Calif., on the way to its temporary home at Marie Kerr Park Amphitheater in Palmdale.
pmav@avwall.org to receive a meeting link.
Point Man Antelope Valley, an Outpost of Point Man Interna- “It’s the volunteers that make the AV Wall happen for so
tional Ministries, is a non-profit organization with the purpose many people,” said Stacia Nemeth, coordinator of AV Wall
of addressing and meeting the spiritual, physical and emotional volunteers.
needs of Veterans and their families in the Antelope Valley. All
Veterans are welcome to join. Linda Willis helped spearhead the grass-roots effort to build
When regular meetings resume each Tuesday, they will re- the portable memorial at a cost of more than $100,000 raised
convene at 6 p.m., at the Board Room (SSV 151) of Antelope from community and corporate donors. For her, as a volunteer
Valley College, 3041 West Avenue K, Lancaster, CA 93536. organizer, the experience has been life-changing, and she has
All Veterans are welcome. made multiple trips to Vietnam with Point Man group founder
If you know of a veteran, family member, or military person George Palermo.
suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress, please reach out to us at “We are the only one of several of the so-called “Traveling
661-524-6408. Walls” that was totally done by community donations and vol-
PMAV is the guardian of The Mobile Vietnam Memorial unteers,” she said.
Wall. They are responsible for the maintenance, storage, and So, Point Man Antelope Valley has a dual purpose. The group
displaying of the Memorial. This is an important part of healing helps veterans on an open door, open hand of friendship basis to
for many Vietnam Veterans.
“Point Man members are guardians of what’s known as ‘The advance recovery from wartime traumas. And it is the holder of
AV Wall,’” Bertell said. “Other walls may keep people out. We a sacred trust, Bertell said, to present the story of the Vietnam
say our AV Wall brings people together.” War in a way the entire community can understand.
The portable monument is a half-scale tribute of the Vietnam This year’s presentation of the AV Wall had to be postponed
War Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The because of the pandemic, prompting the City of Palmdale to
names of the more than 78,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam launch its presentation of the Field of Healing and Honor — the
War are on the AV Wall, and it has traveled with its volunteer 2,020 American flags that will be displayed from Nov. 1 through
cohort across Southern California for a decade. Nov. 11, Veterans Day, at Pelona Vista Park.
Most often, the AV Wall is on display at the Palmdale Donors who acquire an American flag for $30 through online
Amphitheater at Marie Kerr Park during the Veterans Day sales at the City of Palmdale website can dedicate their flag to a
period. Tens of thousands of visitors that include veter-
ans, family members, and surviving family members of the veteran, to a member of the armed services, or to first respond-
deceased named on the wall have come for the “AV Wall ers in law enforcement and firefighting services, or to a health
experience” during a score of patriotic holidays and other care hero. At the end of the Veteran’s Day holiday on Nov. 11,
teachable events. the flag can be picked up by the donor.

Aerotech News and Review
8 www.aerotechnews.com ........ facebook.com/aerotechnewsandreview October 30, 2020