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Johnstown American Legion Post 254 had 12
who traveled to the Chillicothe VA
hospital Christmas morning for the purpose
of visiting hospitalized veterans. Making
the holiday trip from the Post were Bruce
Tolle, Phyllis Robinson, Daniel and Susan
Townsend, Leslie Welch, Wayne Ashbrook,
Bert and Herb Kellett, Karen and Al
Norman, and Lucy and Jack Walsh. It was
the 32nd year for Jack Walsh to visit the
VA at Christmas.
Visiting fellow veterans at
Chillicothe's VA Hospital is a Christmas
tradition for Johnstown's Jack Walsh.
For the past 31 years, Walsh, a World
War II Navy and Coast Guard veteran, has
left Johnstown at 7 a.m. every Christmas
morning in order to visit veterans at the
hospital by about 9:30 a.m.
"A lot of them only have the shirts on
their backs," he said. "They appreciate
having someone to talk to that morning.
Some of them may have wives or kids who
don't see them on Christmas.
"This is my Christmas," he said.
Walsh makes the trip to Chillicothe as
part of the "Gifts for Yanks" program that
benefits wounded and/or sick veterans in
VA hospitals at Christmas.
"A lot of ladies auxiliaries make up
goody bags that include toothpaste and all
kinds of stuff," he said. "We pick up
toiletries, notebooks and T-shirts. The
'Gifts for Yanks' program was started back
during World War I. Servicemen were called
'Yanks' in World War I."
This year, Walsh plans to make the trip
with buddies from Johnstown's American
Legion Post 254, including commander Bruce
Tolle.
Tolle said this will mark his third or
fourth visit to the VA Hospital on
Christmas Day.
"It's very heartwarming," he said. "I'm
not sure how to describe it. There's a
certain camaraderie. There's something we
have that's shared. I've learned over the
years in meeting different people, I can
almost tell without exception who's a GI.
I can't explain it."
He said the veterans can use the gifts
that include items ranging from writing
tablets to soap.
Walsh said a buddy of his, the late
Robert McCarty, got him involved in
visiting the veterans on Christmas.
"When I first started going, my first
wife, Donna, went with me," he said.
"After I lost her, I went by myself. The
legionnaires are busy. Now my wife, Lucy,
and I go. Lately, several fellows from our
post have been going. That makes it nice.
We meet people from all over."
After signing in the gift boxes, he
said, a volunteer distributes the
presents.
Walsh, who moved to Johnstown in 1955,
said the village is a community with kind
and generous people.
In addition to visiting veterans at
Chillicothe, he and eight other friends
from Johnstown's American Legion Post 254
recently visited veterans at the Ohio
Veterans Home in Sandusky.
"We passed out Christmas gifts up
there," Tolle said.
"Some are living there in the home and
some are in the hospital. It's good to do
something for these guys who have been
defending us."
"It makes my Christmas," Walsh
said.
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