By Pattie Mihalik

During the Vietnam War, Ron Zaleski served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

The day before he was scheduled to be shipped to Vietnam with his unit, his orders were changed and he remained in the states.

What continues to haunt him is that five of his buddies were wounded and two were killed in Vietnam.

“I was consumed by guilt and anger about the war and all the lives that were lost,” he says.

“My anger was even worse when people looked down on Vietnam veterans and called us baby killers.”

Like a lot of other veterans, he was depressed and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

You know how some bad things that happen to us eventually lead to something good?

Well, that’s exactly what happened with Ron.

As he saw many veterans were committing suicide, he knew he had to step up and call attention to what was then a major problem out of the limelight.

As a memorial to military members who lost their lives, Ron stopped wearing shoes and began an improbable march across the country. He carried a sign saying 22 veterans a day commit suicide.

I had no idea the suffering that still continues for some veterans. Ron is trying to educate the public to this ongoing problem.

Wherever he went on his cross-country walk, people wanted to know why he wasn’t wearing shoes.

“It’s part of my memorial to those that lost their lives fighting for us,” he said. “Going without shoes is nothing compared to the sacrifices of our wounded veterans.”

That barefooted walk caught the attention of the media that, in turn, focused on the need for more support for veterans.

During two separate 3,500 walks across the country, he was approached every day by someone who had lost a veteran to suicide.

“A mother who lost her child held me and cried. Every day I had a similar emotional encounter with someone who lost a loved one,” he said.

Calling his barefooted walks “The Long Walk Home,” he also used social media to call attention to the need for ongoing help for veterans.

While he admits he’s still a work in progress, he started a successful veterans charity and outreach program that helps veterans on multiple levels.

What impresses me about what he is doing is that it’s all self-initiative.

“We can’t sit back and say, ‘The government should do something.’ I started all this after 9/11 when I realized I am the government. We all are. At least we can try to be the catalyst for change,” he says.

I sat in on one of his empowerment classes where he teaches veterans techniques to find calm when things are getting out of control.

Realizing that’s something many people need, he welcomes others besides veterans to the class.

By talking with some of the veterans there, I realize they are also gaining from others who come.

“Sometimes I don’t have anyone to talk to until I come here. It helps,” said one veteran.

Ron then leads a guided empowerment class that ends by focusing on positive things.

In addition to offering helpful self-care tips, the session helps veterans understand they are not alone in their continued struggle.

Vietnam was decades ago, yet it continues to haunt some who still suffer from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

One woman told me she sometimes “gets hit during the night” because her husband has nightmares and thinks he’s still fighting in Vietnam.

While Ron tells stories about the shabby way veterans were treated when they came back from Vietnam, he stresses it’s no longer like that in most parts of the country.

And many veterans I interviewed told me they are getting much more help from the government than previously.

“The pendulum has swung and people have gotten appreciative of veterans,” Ron said.

Look around you and you’ll note some of these changes.

Often, someone in a restaurant will pay for a veteran’s meal. And many people are quick to say, “Thank you for your service,” when they see someone who is obviously a veteran.

I get tears of gratitude when I see some of the extraordinary things some are doing.

Walt Fricke is a retired pilot who founded Veterans Airlift Command, a nonprofit organization that flies wounded veterans for medical care or other humanitarian purposes.

When a veteran returns home with devastating injuries, it’s not the end of his problems. It’s the beginning.

One story that made me cry was that of a wounded veteran without legs. When he tried to fly a commercial flight to receive a medal for his services, the airline couldn’t allow him to use his regular wheelchair on the plane and he couldn’t fit into the one the airline could provide. He would have missed the ceremony if it weren’t for a volunteer pilot from Veterans Airlift Command.

When we think of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, we seldom think of the lifelong consequences for those who return with devastating injuries.

To read some inspirational stories of how volunteer pilots are helping them, go to https://www.veterans­airlift.org.

I’m thankful that most of the country has awakened to the enormous debt we owe those who put their lives on the line for the rest of us.

Remember to thank a veteran any time you get the chance.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.