Gleiter, Roy
| 9/6/2007 10:53:00 AM | Email this article ? Print this article | |||
Shelah Ogletree Reporter for The Daily Record A Vietnam veteran and Katrina refugee turned homeless man pulls a 3,000-pound wagon down rural roads. A mentally handicapped woman he calls "Mother" trudges behind the wagon and her service dog walks alongside. "I'm bringing attention to America's bigotry against the poor," the man said. Roy Gleiter, 48, said he has traveled America's highways since Hurricane Katrina destroyed his trailer home in Gulfport, Miss., in 2005. Before the hurricane Mr. Gleiter had a job selling videos and DVDs from a tent set up in a shopping center parking lot. He lived in a trailer provided by his boss. "The hurricane took nearly everything and we couldn't get assistance from FEMA because it took our identification as well," Mr. Gleiter said. "I didn't know what to do so I piled everything I owned into that wagon. "A guy asked me one day why I didn't pull my own weight, so I tripled the weight and began to pull it down the highway where everyone could see what I was doing," he said. "I want people to see that homeless people may be damaged, but they can be reached." Mr. Gleiter said the responsibility of the task he has set for himself, in raising awareness of poverty, stands testimony to what homeless people can do. His task is daunting. Caring for the 56-year-old Debra Cowen, a family friend who is bipolar, schizophrenic and has Tourette's syndrome, is a full-time task in itself. Ms. Cowen rarely speaks directly to others, but talks to herself and occasionally screams and bites her hands in terror. "You should try to sleep at night with her doing that," Mr. Gleiter said. "But she, the dog and the wagon are all I have so I take care of them in that order. I come last. After taking the message of the homeless to America, my next goal is to live one day longer than 'Mom' does." Along the way Mr. Gleiter has attracted attention from media, law enforcement and disgruntled drivers who have had to wait behind the slow-moving wagon. He said that's OK as long as his message gets out. He showed a stack of newspaper clippings gleaned from towns he's visited. Mr. Gleiter said most people assume that homeless people are in that situation by choice. "Eighty-six percent of folks assume that if you're homeless you've made a lifestyle choice, you're drunk, you're crazy or you're lazy," he said. Mr. Gleiter said he doesn't fit any of those descriptions. "I don't have much need for alcohol unless I get a toothache and need to soak my teeth," he said. "Last week a man got really offended when I politely refused a case of beer he was offering, but I didn't have room for it." Mr. Gleiter grew up in a military family, joined the army and eventually earned his Airborne wings. He said he doesn't do drugs either. The well-spoken Mr. Gleiter said although he dropped out of school in ninth grade he reads voraciously and dreams of heading a corporation dedicated to easing the plight of America's poor. He and his wagon normally cover a 1- to 3-mile distance daily, sometimes more, he said. "It depends on how we are perceived by the community, law enforcement in particular," Mr. Gleiter said. "Sometimes I have to get out of the area in a hurry." Mr. Gleiter said for the most part people are receptive to his message of hope for the poor. They also offer money or food donations, which he gladly accepts. "My heavenly father hasn't let me miss a meal yet," he said. Not everyone is glad to see Mr. Gleiter. He said he has been "jumped by hoodlums" more times than he can remember and uses every bit of his military training to survive. "Let's just say it doesn't usually turn out as well as they anticipated," he said. "I was a forward observer so I know how to get along pretty well." Mr. Gleiter said in addition to townsfolk, kind and otherwise, he has met some celebrities on the road. "I am on singer/songwriter David Alan Coe's Web site," he said. "And Oprah is going to call. I'm sure of it. "I'll sit on her couch and explain my plan to put America's homeless to work. There are 4 million homeless citizens in this country and they could have helped in the cleanup of Katrina and like disasters if only they were given the opportunity," he said. Mr. Gleiter is headed to Washington, D.C., traveling on U.S. 301. Dunn and Benson residents can expect to see his slow-moving wagon in the next weeks if he feels welcome. "Once you're homeless for three days you're considered unemployable, but I'm earning people's respect by pulling my own weight," he said. "Most Americans are one paycheck away from being where I am." |
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The American involvement in the Vietnam War ended when U.S. troops
left in April 1975. For years after the war, the Vietnamese government
had limited relations with the U.S. government.
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Veteran added to Pentagon list: Beilke was last
official combat soldier to leave Vietnam
Nation & World : Monday, September 17, 2001
Copyright (c) 2001 The Seattle Times Company
By Robert A. Rosenblatt and Richard T. Cooper
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - He was last in the line moving up the ramp into a
waiting C-130 at Tan Son Nhut air base - a tall, husky man with an open
face who was about to step into history. It was March 29, 1973, in
Saigon, and Master Sgt. Max Beilke was officially designated the
last U.S. combat soldier to leave Vietnam.
He had survived two wars, Korea and Vietnam. Now he was going home to
his family in Minnesota.
Twenty-eight years later, Beilke - at 69 long since retired from the
Army but pursuing a second career helping veterans - was plunged
suddenly into his third conflict: the war of terror.
Defense Department officials have added his name to the list of those
thought killed when a hijacked airliner hit the Pentagon on Tuesday.....