National Guard's major general vows to help all vets

Guard's major general vows to help all vets
By ROGER AMSDEN
New Hampshire Union Leader Correspondent
Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008


TILTON – MAJ. GEN. Kenneth Clark, adjutant general of the New Hampshire National Guard, offered his definition of what constitutes a veteran yesterday at a Veterans Day ceremony at the New Hampshire Veterans Home.

"A veteran is a person who at one point in his life wrote a blank check to the United States in which they agreed to follow orders which may cost them their life," said Clark, who was introduced by Veterans Home Commandant Barry Conway as "a dedicated patriot."

Clark said that since 2003, some 27 men from New Hampshire have lost their lives in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most recent loss was National Guard Cpl. Scott Dimond of Franklin, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last month. Dimond's mother, Mary Gnerre of Bristol, is a long-time employee at the Veterans Home.

Clark said the stresses and strains of war are reflected in the number of suicides by those who have returned from military operations overseas, including one that took place the day after he greeted six members of the military who had returned from Iraq.

Another recent suicide was that of a Guardsman who was the roommate of National Guard medic Sgt. David Stelmat, 27, of Littleton, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in March 2008.

"The stress was too much for him. A lot of people are coming home with injuries we can't see,'' said Clark.
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