PeopleTalk: A conversation with Alwin “Butch” O’Donnell
PeopleTalk: Vietnam vet still answers call to serve
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Vietnam veteran Alwin "Butch" O'Donnell enlisted in the U.S. Army at 18, serving in the infantry from 1969 to '71. The burly South Buffalo native achieved the rank of first sergeant before joining the Army National Guard.
O'Donnell, 59, who lives with his wife in West Seneca, retired from the military in 2004, but he will never stop serving. His heart is in uniform.
PeopleTalk: So you enlisted?
Alwin O'Donnell: I joined the service assuming I'd be an engineer, but it didn't work that way in the Army. There was a small line on the bottom that read "if school is available." There was no school available, so they put me in the infantry.
PT: How did you like the infantry?
AO: I loved pounding through jungle and living like a dog, sure. If there's one way to get to know an individual, it is through the infantry. You protect each other's back. You rely on each other for your life.
PT: So you grew up overnight.
AO: Oh sure, you grew up real fast. You needed to grow up fast and start shooting, or else you would die. You had to keep truckin'.
PT: Did you miss your mother?
AO: I missed my family. I missed everybody. I missed a lot of things. I still miss them. I still live it. I live it every night. I'm going to leave that one alone, because I really can't go on in that part.
PT: You still have memories?
AO: Yes, ma'am — totally — every night. Am I trying to get better? I am, but it's not easy.
PT: What's the toughest part about being a veteran?
AO: Veterans are special individuals who served this country to give a majority of people their freedom. I'm going out on a limb and saying that 80 percent of kids today don't know what a veteran is or what he has done. You have different veterans: combat and normal. I'm a combat veteran. I served in the war zone. Whether we're Air Force, Navy, Marine, Army, we can kid around around with each other about that, but let an outsider in and try. It ain't going to work.
PT: What makes you happy?
AO: I do a lot of different stuff. I go to church. I belong to my church's men's association. In fact I'm president ’ St. Clare's at Elk and Smith. I go to the armory to welcome the troops home, part of a family support network. If they need a hot water tank, baby sitter. I watch two little boys every Friday.
PT: What do you do in your spare time?
AO: I work around the house, but I have five herniated disks. Do you really you want to know? I bury my comrades and give them respect. I'm on the honor guard, and I go to all the various funerals. I just buried a Marine the other day, gave him a 21-gun salute at St. Stanislaus Cemetery.
PT: What's the key to the 21-gun salute?
AO: Practice. It's just: Ready, aim, fire. Aim, fire. Aim, fire. It's all a slow-motion command.
PT: Do you keep up with the news of the world?
AO: Once in a while I'll watch the world news, but it's always something about the war, and I get depressed and I don't watch it. All the news is bad news. Why can't we see the various soldiers going into the villages to help rebuild them, giving people food and hope? They don't show that. All they show is people getting killed.
PT: You do a lot for the Legion, don't you?
AO: The Legion does a lot. We support the community, hockey, baseball. We give out scholarships. We do it because we love our country, we love our community.
PT: Why didn't you make a career out of it?
AO: I did, my whole life: Four years' active duty, and after that National Guard. I fought the Blizzard of '77, the ice storms, the Blizzard of '85. I did the propane explosion on South Division Street. I was at Ground Zero the very next day. I flew down the Thruway. I was ordered to go down, to assess the situation for what equipment we would need.
PT: Outside the military, are you good at taking orders?
AO: No. As I worked through trying to make a living, I took orders from idiots. I was a mason plasterer.
PT: I bet you have a heart of gold.
AO: People do say I'm nice. I'm generous. I'm caring. People say that, but I don't know if it's true.
PT: There are 25 million veterans living in this country?
AO: Yep, and they're dying every day. World War II and Korean veterans are dropping at a rapid rate, especially World War II veterans, and that's why we're glad we got the monument up.
PT: How are you spending Veterans Day?
AO: I'm putting 15,000 flags out in Forest Lawn cemetery. I'm the coordinator. I know who will speak, that is if they show up.
PT: You must have a flag flying at your house.
AO: All day and all night, illuminated.
PT: Have you ever been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial?
PT: Is there anything else you want to say?
AO: I just wish people would honor veterans more. I know the country is in rough shape and everything, but I just hope to God they don't take away from the veterans. You wouldn't have the freedom of speech that I have right now without veterans. It's different now. Today there is no draft. These people are volunteering to protect this country. That's a statement in itself.
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