Vietnam vet makes pitstop at NHS during 750-mile walk across NYS
NORWICH – As part of his 750-mile walk across New York State, Vietnam war veteran Frank Romeo made a stop at Norwich High School on Tuesday to talk to students about post-traumatic stress.
Romeo is a veterans advocate, educator, and Vietnam war veteran whose non-profit organization Walk with Frank aims to "...educate the public about the devastating impact of PTSD on military veterans in particular and society in general."
At the beginning of March, Romeo began a 750-mile walk from Buffalo to Bay Shore on Long Island as a means of bringing attention to PTSD. His program 'The Art of War' discusses some of the challenges Romeo has faced with PTSD and how painting provided an outlet for his trauma.
"During a mission into Cambodia on August 2, 1969, we were living in the jungles of Vietnam and I was surrounded by the enemy," said Romeo. "I was separated from my unit and I was shot seven times, and they kept shooting me until they thought I was dead."
Romeo – who is completing the 750-mile walk with a bullet still lodged in his back – said he was unconscious for a month after being shot in 1969, before waking up in a hospital in Japan. After being administered morphine during his recovery, he began a long battle with drug addiction.
"I left the hospital in uniform after spending a year in the hospital, and I was spit on by the anti-war movement," said Romeo. "The protesters who were outside of the hospital actually spit on us when we came home. Coupled with my drug abuse, this began to eat away at my mental stability and it began to affect me for the rest of my life."
Romeo said 30 years after the Vietnam War, the American Psychiatric Association stepped in and gave a name to a syndrome that had affected a large number of returning veterans: post-traumatic stress.
"Finally something in my life made sense," said Romeo. "I could understand now that something was happening to me. Unfortunately a lot of my brothers committed suicide, our veterans, and that's the case today. We have so many veterans that can't find an outlet for their trauma. We have 22 suicides a day in the veteran community."
Romeo found his outlet in painting. He said a common theme can be seen in all of his works: post trauma. Each scene depicts the aftermath of a traumatic incident, and each painting tells a story.
In his walk, Romeo is advocating for more reality-based education, similar to the assembly at which he spoke in Norwich on Tuesday. He's documenting some of the people he meets along the way in videos on his website and social media pages as a means to express the bigger picture.
"At least five times a week I post a story about who I'm meeting," said Romeo. "I met Joe Coe today, a gentleman here who runs Chenango County Veteran Services and we interviewed him and tomorrow he'll be on the story. You'll get to follow and understand who our veterans are in New York State. This is the concept of my walk; every day I write a story and everyday people follow me, and it's working.
"What we're learning is we're not just in movies, we're not just on the news. We're your grandfather and your uncle, we're your neighbor."
More information about Romeo and Walk with Frank can be found at www.walkwithfrank.org.
Romeo is a veterans advocate, educator, and Vietnam war veteran whose non-profit organization Walk with Frank aims to "...educate the public about the devastating impact of PTSD on military veterans in particular and society in general."
At the beginning of March, Romeo began a 750-mile walk from Buffalo to Bay Shore on Long Island as a means of bringing attention to PTSD. His program 'The Art of War' discusses some of the challenges Romeo has faced with PTSD and how painting provided an outlet for his trauma.
"During a mission into Cambodia on August 2, 1969, we were living in the jungles of Vietnam and I was surrounded by the enemy," said Romeo. "I was separated from my unit and I was shot seven times, and they kept shooting me until they thought I was dead."
Romeo – who is completing the 750-mile walk with a bullet still lodged in his back – said he was unconscious for a month after being shot in 1969, before waking up in a hospital in Japan. After being administered morphine during his recovery, he began a long battle with drug addiction.
"I left the hospital in uniform after spending a year in the hospital, and I was spit on by the anti-war movement," said Romeo. "The protesters who were outside of the hospital actually spit on us when we came home. Coupled with my drug abuse, this began to eat away at my mental stability and it began to affect me for the rest of my life."
Romeo said 30 years after the Vietnam War, the American Psychiatric Association stepped in and gave a name to a syndrome that had affected a large number of returning veterans: post-traumatic stress.
"Finally something in my life made sense," said Romeo. "I could understand now that something was happening to me. Unfortunately a lot of my brothers committed suicide, our veterans, and that's the case today. We have so many veterans that can't find an outlet for their trauma. We have 22 suicides a day in the veteran community."
Romeo found his outlet in painting. He said a common theme can be seen in all of his works: post trauma. Each scene depicts the aftermath of a traumatic incident, and each painting tells a story.
In his walk, Romeo is advocating for more reality-based education, similar to the assembly at which he spoke in Norwich on Tuesday. He's documenting some of the people he meets along the way in videos on his website and social media pages as a means to express the bigger picture.
"At least five times a week I post a story about who I'm meeting," said Romeo. "I met Joe Coe today, a gentleman here who runs Chenango County Veteran Services and we interviewed him and tomorrow he'll be on the story. You'll get to follow and understand who our veterans are in New York State. This is the concept of my walk; every day I write a story and everyday people follow me, and it's working.
"What we're learning is we're not just in movies, we're not just on the news. We're your grandfather and your uncle, we're your neighbor."
More information about Romeo and Walk with Frank can be found at www.walkwithfrank.org.
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