Sean C. Morgan
Vietnam veterans are helping Ric and Sue Olson repair and remodel parts of their Osage Street home along with help from Victor Kuhn’s organization Vets Helping Vets and Team Home Depot.
They were looking for a job, “and they asked me if I would volunteer for it,” said Ric Olson, a Vietnam veteran. “So they came out and took a look at the place.”
Among the projects, the groups chose to replace their patio roof and old windows, Olson said. They they wanted to do a rebuild. They looked around the house and asked, “How about a rebuilding this bathroom for you.”
It was functional, but the floor did need replacement, Sue Olson said.
They’re the kind of projects that build up and go downhill, Ric Olson said.
Two members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 585, the Mid-Valley chapter, Larry Steimel of Albany and Tony Tangerman of Lebanon, have been doing the work, Olson said. Home Depot is supplying the material, and the veteran volunteers are currently finishing up a window project.
The projects have been under way for the past two months.
“I’m really thankful for all the work that Home Depot and VVA Chapter 585 have done for me,” Ric Olson said.
“The 585 is dedicated to leaving no man behind,” Steimel said, and that includes helping disabled veterans who need help.
Team Home Depot has a mission to help all disabled veterans, Steimel said.