Operation Just Cause... ...for as long as it takes
by Marilyn Grote
Question: How did you first become involved with OJC?
Answer: The real culprit on this one is my first and best veteran friend from the Internet, George Gunny Fallon. If anyone is to blame it is he. Gunny, my memory isn't all that good due to medications that I take so if I misquote something please do correct me. I had met Gunny on the Net a few months prior to the beginning of OJC and one day I got a message from him saying that the scan of my POW/MIA bracelet of Lt. Gary Scull had sparked an idea. He said he'd spoken to Ted Guy and Steve Golding already about this idea he had about the general public adopting POW/MIA's. Well, of course I was enthusiastic about it as it sounded like a great idea for a way not only to bring public awareness to the issue but also a way to get the American public involved. If I recall correctly Tippy was the first to put up a POW/MIA page and the rest is pretty much history. Moonduster Chronicles is proud to introduce you to "Doc" Stewart:
Question: Can you describe what the early days of OJC were like?
Answer: In one word, hectic!!! Not so much for me but for Gunny. He took on the responsibility of taking care of all the adoptions himself. I don't even recall what I did other than help make web pages. I'm sure Gunny remembers what I did (if anything). LOL If I remember correctly I received the emails for the adoptions and would forward them to Gunny and he would then keep a log and send out the bios.
Question: What jobs did you take on during the founding of OJC?
Answer: As far as jobs I did I can't say that I did anymore than create graphics, web pages and forward all the adoption requests to Gunny. It doesn't sound like much but it was very time consuming back then getting it all set up and running. Of course we didn't have near the requests for adoptions as we do now. But as time went on the number of adoptions increased dramatically and it put a terrific strain on Gunny as far as time needed to keep up with them. Eventually we came up with the idea of teams (I believe this was Gunny's idea as well) to do various tasks within OJC. We enlisted the help of Bill Osborne and Bill and I ran the Net Operations for a year or so. Then Bill left for reasons I will not get into here and at that same time I had to step down due to health reasons. I certainly can't say OJC was hurt in any way by my stepping down because it has continued to grow at an alarming rate. It makes me very proud to see how it is currently being run. The teams seem to work flawlessly together and the job gets done with minimal effort. Gee... that didn't sound right. Minimal effort??? HA!!!! With minimal friction I should say because effort is all that I see continuously from all the staff members. It is all of you who should be very proud of yourselves for I know the upper echelon are very proud of each and every one of you.
Question: You have an outstanding web site, one of the best. How did you first get the idea and get started on your web pages?
Answer: I never really gave thought to doing my military site. I was in Vietnam but not in combat so I really didn't think I had much to contribute to the net and to our fellow brothers and sisters who served. I only spent three years in the service with a year and a half of that in country. After Gunny contacted me the first time and invited me to visit his site... I was in total awe. It was then that I realized that I did have something to contribute - but how and what? I wanted to create something that everyone would not only enjoy visiting but something that they might benefit from as well. Friends had already given me the nickname Doc because I seemed to be always helping Vets and others with one thing or another be it web pages or whatever. At the time I never gave thought that people would mistake me as having been a medic or corpsman. NOT!!!! Not a day goes by that I don't receive a message from someone thinking I was a medic because of "Doc". After much thought my pages were created and over the years I just kept adding to them as a certain cause came up or if I thought something was important enough for someone to benefit from it.
Question: How did you learn HTML and everything else needed to make your web site the complicated site that it is?
Answer: My HTML is basically self-taught. Of course I'm not up on all the new tricks and if it's not a java script that I only have to paste into my document (and do a minimum amount of editing) I'm lost. Joe Oliver helps me with Java and CGI as I'm completely lost with CGI. To answer your question though (and I would suggest to others just starting out to do this) I would check the source code of a page if I saw something that I liked and wanted to know how it was done. Also, although I do most of my pages using WordPad now, I was using Netscape's editor in the beginning so it was pretty much just a click of the mouse and viola!!!! There was my web page. As time went on though I found that Netscape puts a lot of unnecessary code in the page so I began to do them by hand.
Question: How much time is involved in keeping your web site up and running as successfully as it does?
Answer: Now that most of the work is done and I'm more in tune of how to do things it doesn't take too much time to create a page or to keep them up. With the number of pages I currently have the only big problem I run into is when I have to update or change a link. This too is minimal now that I have my own domain but I do have several pages on Xoom (which I've recently run into a big problem with them changing my username) that will be transferred to my domain as soon as I have time to do so. That will be very time consuming. Back to your question... as I was building my site I was spending anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day on them. But I was doing my own graphics too, which is time consuming. Much of that time was doing sketches and putting down on paper ideas of what I wanted to do. When it looked right I would then create the graphic I needed and create the web page.
Question: With all the information out on the various subjects how do you choose what goes in the site and what doesn't?
Answer: As I stated earlier I pretty much choose what I feel is important and what I think our brothers and sisters as well as the American public need to see or get involved with. My POW/MIA pages began small but grew rapidly as I found information that I felt pertinent to the cause. It is the same with my military pages. I still have much that I want to add and as time permits I will. I want to add pages about Agent Orange and Hepatitis C and have links for our brothers and sisters who are infected with these diseases to follow for support. Basically I think I wanted a site that everyone could enjoy and learn from - both young and old alike. I guess I've done something right because it seems to be working. I mainly wanted to stay away from it sounding like I was patting myself on the back because that's not who I am. I had a lot of free time on my hands and I wanted to put it to good use helping others. My pages, as well as my Veterans Mailing List, keep me going with things to do and I enjoy helping others so I feel that I'm doing something that is good. If I can help one brother or sister find an answer to an important question or if I can bring a smile to someone who is down and out then its mission accomplished for me. That's just who I am. I like to help and I like to make others feel good about themselves.
Question: You have some of the best Military and POW/MIA graphics up on the Internet. Can you explain what is involved in getting these graphics to a point that others can use them on their sites?
Answer: Nice try!!! Surely you don't think I'm going to give away my secrets do you???? HeHeHe!! Just kidding. I can't even tell you how I got started doing graphics for my graphics site. I am not an artist by any means. Heck, I can't even draw a straight line and I'm serious. I do have a good eye and I guess that helps. As I said earlier, I created most of the graphics on my site so the more I did, the more I learned. I have several graphics programs as well as many filters and plug-ins, which help get the various special effects within my graphics. As with anything, the more I did the more adept I became using the various programs. Once a graphic is created it is then important to size it and save it in a way that it is as small in file size as possible for the net. I now use Ulead's Smart Saver Pro for saving all my graphics. It does a great job of compressing them. You'll notice that I have very few animated graphics. That's something I haven't tackled as of yet. I might not either. I enjoy creating graphics and that helps too. It's not a job to me it's a hobby.
Question: You recently came back from the Wall and the Rolling Thunder Rally in Washington, D.C. and put up great pages on your site. What are your plans for the near future for your site and involvement in the POW/MIA issue?
Answer: As you know I've been in the background of OJC for the past year or two due to health reasons. I not only had the privilege of visiting The Wall for the first time, I also had the honor of meeting an 11-year-old girl by the name of Nikki Mendicino whom I befriended last August. On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend this young lady made a speech in front of tens of thousands of people at the foot of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Folks, if you haven't read her speech, please go to my site and read it. Nikki said two things in her speech that made me think. One was "People ask me how I got started doing the things I have done and I ask them how they can do nothing" and "I knew that I couldn't do everything, but, I also knew that I had to do something". Those two statements are very powerful coming from anyone much less an 11-year-old. It has prompted me to get off my butt and to get back into the cause. I'm not sure what capacities I can handle as I still have medical problems but as Nikki says "I HAVE to do something." I am in the process of moving to NY and when I am settled I will be in touch with "the boss" and ask Gunny what I can do. Even if it's minimal at least I'll know I'm involved and doing something. This past weekend was one that I will never forget. It gave me a totally new perspective on the meaning of brotherhood. The outpouring of love between our brothers and sisters was beyond anything I ever imagined. And I didn't even get to meet Gunny or Steve!!!!!!!!!! ;-)
Question: Do you have any ideas or suggestions on how people can become more involved in the fight to bring the POW/MIA(s) back home?
Answer: Yes, and I'm glad you asked this question Marilyn. I'm going to be blunt here and I hope I don't offend anyone for that is not my intention. From all the POW/MIA pages I'm asked to go see (and it's many on a daily basis) because they've used my graphics on them, I very rarely see any mention about contacting our elected officials. Oh, a lot of pages have links on them to our congressmen and senators and to ol' slick but nothing is mentioned about making contact. This cause isn't about adopting POW/MIA's and making pretty pages. Anyone can do that. Yes, all these pages do help in bringing awareness to the American Public but it's not only the American public that we need to bring this issue to light to. It's our elected officials in Washington who need to know that we are out here in numbers and we want a full accounting of our missing brothers NOW. How long does it take to write a letter? How long does it take to send a fax, email or snail mail??? Compare that time with how long it takes you to create a pretty web page. The pretty web page isn't going to be seen by your congressman or senator. Your letters just might be!!!! Write and ask them, no…DEMAND of them that you want to know what is being done to bring your adopted POW home where he belongs. And you want to know why it is taking 30 years to do so.
Lastly, I'd like to make some comments about this past weekend. Memorial Day has always been a day to pay tribute to our fallen brothers and sisters of all wars. Although that certainly was the theme in Washington I was elated to see the amount of respect and compassion shown to the POW/MIA issue as well. They are also our fallen. They too have made the ultimate sacrifice. Even those who might still be alive. They've paid an even bigger sacrifice in that they are still waiting, after 30+ years, for their country to bring them home. God Bless them and God Bless you all for all that you do. Never forget and never give up the fight. Through all of us, we can and we WILL bring them home. If it doesn't happen with us, then it WILL with the next generation led by all the Nikki's of our wonderful country.
I can't tell you how much pride I have to be a part of this organization. I thank Gunny, Steve, Col. Ted Guy (GBU Colonel) for thinking enough of me to bring me onboard. And once again (and I can't say this enough times) thank you to the OJC staff for your tireless efforts. You may not hear it often but know you are appreciated far more than you think.
I love you all....
Doc
From Marilyn Grote:
I met Doc on the Internet when I sent him an email asking to use something off his web site on my site and to tell him how much I loved his site. I received back a wonderful note from him. Doc has the ability to communicate with anyone and everyone as if their question, their situation is the most important thing in the world to him. I quickly became a big fan of Doc's and his web site.
Once before I asked Doc to be the Volunteer of the Month and Doc being Doc did not think he had anything to offer and that we had other volunteers who did more then he did for OJC. I asked Doc again and he agreed to do the article much to my delight and it only took a little begging from me.
Doc, you have been a real joy to work with this month. I have enjoyed doing the article and appreciate the cooperation and effort you put into doing it. Even with the relocation move for you we got the article finished, it is good and it is all due to your outstanding ability to write and communicate.
Thank you so much. You are truly one of the best, actually outstanding and a lot of fun to work with. You have become a friend and us German Shepherd dog owners have to stick together.
Love ya brother, From Barb Malone:
"Doc has helped me with questions I have had since the beginning of my
involvement with OJC. I have learned a lot from him about Vietnam Veterans
and what the Vietnam War meant to them. I have learned that there was so
much I did not know."
"Besides everything else Doc has done, he has also shown me what real
patriotism is. He has explained through his words and through his webpages
what love of country, and love for your fellow man really means. I am proud
to call him a friend."
"Doc has painstakingly made his webpages to inform, enlighten, and entertain
so many people. I want to thank whatever force was at work the day I got to
know Doc. I especially want to thank him for the time he spent fighting in
Vietnam."
Barb Malone
From Steve Golding:
Doc has been with us from inception of OJC. He did 90% of our graphics and helped us launch the first pages of Operation: Just Cause and he
has been there ever since. He has become a personal friend of mine which is not really an easy task.
Doc, a former New Yorker, lives in Arizona for the time being. I started shooting him some stuff on my favorite Arizone Senator whose initials are
John McCain and Doc took to it running. He has written the local press and he has hounded them to hold McCain accountable.
He is always there, always available. Due to health reasons he had to take a baby-step back from the work-load OJC generated, but remains on
our Executive Committee and he runs the Veteran's Mailing List which encompasses many veteran issue related topics. He's made it clear that he
could chip-in on an as-needed basis and we have gone to that well time and again.
The one time I remember him being tongue tied was when I told him I wasn't a vet. He then made me an honorary one.
Having just come back from the annual family meetings in DC, it is portic that Doc is the Volunteer that I am offering comments on. Because the
thought struck me, if I had 100 Doc's involved in this issue way back when, this issue may very well be resolved by now.
Because that's Doc. Resolve. I'm not going to thank him. He knows that he's a friend and he's a brother and you don't thank someone for
continuing the impossible. He's someone to admire. Doc is and will always be an important part of Operation: Just Cause.
Steve Golding
From Gunny Fallon:
Doc is the very first person I met when I went online and he has been one of my closest friends ever since.
Perhaps no one is aware of this, but it was Doc who gave me the idea for the adoption program. He put me on to the Scope Systems site and that
was what we used before the POWNET database. Doc scanned his bracelet for his own adopted POW, Gary Scull and sent it to me when I was
looking for a bracelet graphic. I used it for the first OJC page which was originally on my site (the Meadow Years) when I set up the program and
it remains there to this day. In fact, I used it for the template for the "I want to make a difference" link and it was also the template for the original
POW bracelet graphics.
The best word I can think of to describe Doc is "BROTHER". Other words come to mind like "Special," "Loyal," "Honest" and "Trustworthy,"
but above all, I think of him as my BROTHER.
The best news I've gotten in a long time is that he has finally moved close enough that I'll be able to spend some time with him on a regular basis.
Doc, or Chuck as I always call him, has been a friend, advisor, counselor and buddy to me, Steve and the rest of the gang since the beginning. He
is 100% heart. He has made me proud to know him from the very first time I met him. There is no better friend to Vets and their families anywhere
in the world. When you look up integrity in the encyclopedia, you'll find his picture edged in gold leaf.
It's as difficult to describe our relationship as it is to describe the flavor of chocolate ice cream, without having something to compare it to. I'll just
say this:
I love the guy. And I'm really glad you're here BROTHER....
Gunny
From Dennis Johnson: When I joined up with Operation Just Cause, Doc was already on board. Except for Gunny, he was where I most often went for answers. And he always had them. And he always gave them freely.
He is a large part of what set the "tone" for how OJC would function on the Internet:
1. Give straight answers containing nothing but truth.
2. Provide assistance to those needing help making pages to honor their newly adopted heroes.
3. Offer what help you can to build OJC into a lasting entity.
4. When asked a question to which you have no answer, do 2 things:
A. Find them an answer or someone that can provide it and
B. Don't do anything to mess with number 1 above:
Give straight answers containing nothing but truth.
The cause for which we continue to fight will not be won quickly. The answers are out there. We will find them. We will verify
them. We will share what information we have. But it isn't going to happen overnight (or we would already be through).
Some folks join us and become disillusioned when it appears nothing is happening or not enough fast enough. Some of us make
a commitment to stay after this "for as long as it takes". Doc is, thankfully, one of the latter.
While he holds no team assignment, he is still out there spreading the word and fighting the fight.
He will always be part of OJC because he helped shape it, helped make it what it is.
Thanks, Doc, for being there when we needed you most and for being there still.
Dennis Johnson
MG
