SARATOGA SPRINGS — Two Columbia County residents were among seven veterans of foreign wars inducted into the regional Veterans’ Hall of Fame by state Sen. Kathy Marchione, R/C/I-43, on Sept. 11 in a ceremony at the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs.
Among those Magnificent Seven were two local residents, Marilynn Wright, of Ghent, and Vincent Grimaldi, of Taghkanic.
On March 1, 1943, Wright enrolled in the Women’s Army Corps, or WAC. She and her sister Jacqueline were stationed at the Fort Devens, Massachusetts Engineer Replacement Center, and at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Marilynn was the only woman who worked with a U.S. Navy Seabees unit assigned to repair bridges stateside.
“I was in the (U.S. Army) Signal Corps,” she said in a recent interview at her residence at Whittier Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center. “We did a lot of surveying; we checked the properties. (We) had to go from one place to another; you can’t just go on somebody’s land.”
Mostly, she said, her job consisted of office work, “because the guys were overseas — we did the office work to let the fellows go.” Although she said she never left the U.S., she also said she had a good time on a brief visit to England.
According to Marchione’s office, Marilynn recalled “how her duties connected the supplies to the project.
“She describes her work as ‘Marilynn, can you go get this ... Marilynn, can you go get that?’
“When asked how it was back then to be the only woman working with all men, Marilynn responded by saying, ‘you focused on your job and didn’t think about anything but the work and doing it well.’”
Perhaps because it was the first time women, other than nurses, served in the U.S. Army, they received some disrespect, Marilynn said.
“It was kind of like when we came back from ‘Nam,’” said her son, Gerald Wright Jr. “We weren’t looked at so good then.”
Marilynn was one of more than 150,000 American women who served in the Women’s Army Corps in World War II.
Having served five months and 30 days, Wright was honorably discharged Aug. 30, 1943 at the age of 22. She went on to work as a nurse’s aide at various facilities in New York state. She and Gerald Wright Sr. had five children: Freddy, now deceased, Gerald Jr., Carol Burger, Richard and Roger.
“Given the opportunity to make a major contribution to the national war effort, women seized it,” according to Marchione’s office. “By the end of the war, their contributions would be widely heralded. Marilynn Wright was proud to be one of these women.”
Vincent Grimaldi
Vincent Grimaldi, born and raised in the Bronx, was just 17 when he joined the Army. It was 1966, and he had his basic training at Fort Gordon, Georgia and Fort Polk, Louisiana, before being sent to Germany.
The job had its perks.
“Ben E. King came to our enlisted men’s club on my 18th birthday, Dec. 1, 1966,” he said. But Vietnam was on his horizon.
“My brother was going to Vietnam as a radio man,” Grimaldi said. “I was afraid for him, so I went to our sergeant and asked, ‘Can you get me orders for Vietnam, quick?’”
It worked. Vince went to Vietnam. The Army wouldn’t take two brothers from the same family at the same time, so his brother ended up at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
“He never forgave me,” Vince said. “But later the Army called him out for the Martin Luther King riots.”
In the week following King’s assassination, there was widespread civil unrest in cities throughout the East and Midwest.
In Vietnam, Vince served with the 18th Engineer Brigade, S-3 operations, and as an administrative specialist and motor vehicle operator.
“I was only 18,” he said. “I didn’t know anything. I was a clerk typist. I also drove; I drove a jeep and a 3/4-ton truck. The only time Charlie shot at us was when he was cleaning his rifle.”
He was there for about 13 months before developing an ear infection. He had surgery, then it came back.
“The doctor said, ‘Put him on a plane,’” Grimaldi said.
He was honorably discharged Aug. 26, 1968, and received the National Defense Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal and the Vietnam Campaign Medal.
He became employed as computer operator, then as an ambulance driver, both in New York City. In September 1971, he moved to Gallatin and worked for the East Hudson Parkway Association until 1977, then went to work for the National Park Service until retiring in 1995.
Meanwhile, he volunteered with many organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
“We made a website with veterans’ information,” Grimaldi said. “It has a drop-down menu: Federal, State, Information, Jobs. I also have counties — Columbia, Greene, Ulster.”
Then he began volunteering at the Veterans of Foreign Wars post. Lately, he has been involved in creating a website with information for veterans. It includes information for Columbia, Greene and Ulster counties, upcoming events and a dropdown menu with such items as federal, state and job information.
Grimaldi has volunteered for the Elizaville Reds Little League Team, the Elizaville Fire Company, the Gallatin Board of Assessment Review and the Columbia County Honor-a-Veteran Ceremony. He is Columbia County director of the 19th Congressional District Veterans Advisory Committee, website manager for the Hudson Valley Regional Veterans Resource site, master of ceremonies for the Hudson Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades and services, and the Philmont Thank-a-Vet Day, co-chairman and secretary of the Columbia County Veterans Day service, commander of the county VFW Post 1314, life member of Rev. F.A. Kelley Disabled American Veterans Post #38, a member of the American Legion Post 1 and the N.E. Vietnam Veterans Reunion Association.
He married Victoria Duntz on Nov. 29, 1969. They raised one son and two daughters and have three granddaughters and one grandson.
The other veterans honored Friday were Stephen Dennis, U.S. Navy, of Mechanicville; William Allendorph, U.S. Army, of Averill Park; Robert F. Burlingham, U.S. Navy, of Victory Mills; John E. Parkinson, U.S. Marine Corps, of Petersburgh; and M. Duane Wehnau, U.S. Navy, of Sand Lake.
All seven were inducted into the local hall of fame for the 43rd Senate District. Marchione, according to an email from her office, is creating an online veterans’ hall of fame for her 2013-15 local inductees.
Stephen Dennis was inducted into the New York State Senate statewide hall of fame, for which there is only one inductee per Senate district, in May.
To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2500, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.
