Navy Veteran and Vietnam War hero Thomas “Tom” Kelley always appreciated how military service is built on the bonds of brotherhood. In fact, the decorated captain, who retired in 1990 after 30 years of service, originally joined the Navy because his friends did, not because he felt some overwhelming commitment to serve his country.
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“I joined kind of by accident,” Kelley said. “I got in the Navy, not through any, you know, glamorous or romantic visions of serving my country, but just because my two pals did.”
It was that sense of brotherhood and commitment to his fellow service members that earned Kelley a Medal of Honor after being severely injured while leading a mission to extract infantry soldiers from a river bank in South Vietnam in 1969. It’s an honor that he says represents “all the men and women who have fought and who are not in the position to be recognized for what they did.”
Kelley, Thomas G. Vietnam War from Medal of Honor Society on Vimeo.
And it’s also the inspiration behind the veterans ministry as St. Anthony Shrine in Boston, which Kelley helped launch in 2016.
“I find it very uplifting to be able to sit with my fellow veterans,” Kelley said in a recent interview. “We all raised our hand at one time to volunteer to support and defend the Constitution. And for me to hear their stories, what they’ve done in their life, what they did in the service, how they’re doing now, and then we volunteers tell them about our services.”
With more than 16 million veterans in the United States, there is a real need to come alongside these men and women as they transition from military to civilian life. Many face challenges such as mental illness, homelessness, health issues and disabilities, and employment struggles to name a few, and are sometimes reluctant to ask for help. That’s where the Shrine comes in.
For years, the church has offered numerous services, including a food bank, recovery center and counseling services, but nothing tailored to the vulnerable veteran population in the Boston area. That’s why Kelley proposed a monthly lunch to bring veterans together in a comfortable and casual setting with their peers where they could also learn about the help available to them.
“We see a lot of the same faces over and over again, but the gratifying thing is that some of the people, when they first come here, say five years ago, they were maybe one step removed from the street, but then they move on and get the services they need, the wraparound services,” said Kelley, who worked for the Department of Defense and Massachusetts Department of Veteran Services’ after retiring from military life. “So we don’t see them anymore, but that’s a good sign. And they’re always replaced by somebody else coming in.”
And while the lunches provide a special place for veterans to gather each month and share their stories, it’s equally valuable for volunteers, like Kelley, who truly appreciate the sense of brotherhood that military service creates.
“It’s a real bond,” Kelley explained. “I get a lot out of [these lunches] myself, and I hope they do too.”
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Marissa Mayer is a writer and editor with more than 10 years of professional experience. Her work has been featured in Christian Post, The Daily Signal, and Intellectual Takeout. Mayer has a B.A. in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing from Arizona State University.
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