Riders chapter delivers recognition, RED shirts to aging veterans in retirement home
On Fridays, Ohio American Legion Rider Mike Schrull and his fellow members of ALR Chapter 211 in Avon Lake wear their RED shirts in order to “Remember Everyone Deployed” in the military.
Schrull, the director of Chapter 62 and adjutant of the same post, said his Aunt Vivian saw pictures of he and his wife, Patricia, and others wearing the RED shirts on Facebook and told Mike she’d like to have one of the shirts.
Mike obliged, buying her one of the shirts so she could wear it at Rose Senior Living Retirement Home, where she lives. Vivian began wearing the shirt on Fridays. And now, thanks to Chapter 211, she’s not alone in wearing the shirts there.
Recently, the chapter’s Legion Riders made a delivery of RED shirts to the more than dozen veterans living at the facility. A contingent of Riders rode to the home, presenting the shirts and saluting those veterans receiving them. The veterans also were presented challenge coins by the chapter.
“When (Vivian) said a lot of people were asking her about (the shirts) and that they’d like to buy them, we just came up with the idea: ‘Why don’t we just go over there to honor all the vets and give them shirts,’” Schrull said. “It just kind of blossomed from there. I asked my aunt if she could give us the names and shirt sizes of all the veterans there, and she did.
“We ordered shirts, the Riders paid for them, and the rest is history. Those are the kind of things we really enjoy doing.”
When the Riders delivered the shirts, they did so with a message. “When we said we were giving them out, we said, ‘We wanted you to remember that you’re not forgotten. We thank you for what you did’,” Schrull said. “One of the Marines even yelled out ‘We can still kick a$$.’
“They were so excited. Right away they were putting (the shirts) on. Any time you do something like that … the veteran just so appreciates it. I think it just brings back their excitement that they’re remembered.”
Vietnam War veteran and Purple Heart recipient Dennis Reikowski was one of the residents on the receiving end of the shirts and recognition. “Anytime now that we’re acknowledged — it’s touching,” he said. “It means a lot to us, not just me, but every Vietnam vet.”
But the impact of the shirts has spread beyond the veterans at the home. Women whose husbands were veterans also have asked to order shirts, as have other non-veteran residents.
Chapter 211 stays busy, having recently sent care packages to a deployed United States Air Force unit. In the past the chapter also has provided a Santa Claus and gifts to nursing home residents.
“I think that the reason that I enjoy (serving as chapter director) so much is that we do have a chapter where everybody is excited about doing these things,” Schrull said. “It’s just such a joy to not have to prod people. I’m honored to lead the group that I have. They are who we are.
“I have a catchphrase that I end every one of our missions with: You can have been anywhere, but you were here. That’s what I tell every one of my Riders when we end something.”