Combat Warriors Motorcycle Club to hold veterans appreciation event

MEREDITH — The Big Lake Chapter of the Combat Warriors Motorcycle Club will hold a Veterans Appreciation event featuring retired Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc at Laconia Harley-Davidson on Sunday, Nov. 10, from noon to 2 p.m.

While honoring all veterans, the annual event doubles as a fundraiser to benefit veterans’ causes.

Chapter President Witol “Rube” Rubel said the local chapter split off from the national Combat Veterans in 2015 to focus resources directly toward helping veterans. “We decided to become a recognized motorcycle club,” he said.

Vice-President Jim Lowell explained, “We felt a smaller group would make it easier to get things done. We’re all vets, and we all get along, but we just wanted to do our own thing.”

Treasurer and Road Boss Ron Egalka said the Combat Warriors Motorcycle Club has more stringent standards than the national Combat Veterans organization, with a 100 percent vote of its membership necessary to admit new members.

Rubel said it also was important to them to gain nonprofit status so they could take tax-deductible donations. The members pay their own way, so virtually all of the money raised will go toward assisting veterans.

Last weekend, the group attended the fundraiser for the Fallen 7 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Sunday’s event will offer a free lunch for all attendees (although donations will be accepted). 

Veterans Appreciation

Alicia Turner of the Broken Spoke Saloon will sing the National Anthem, and the Combat Warriors will hold their annual flag ceremony at 1 p.m.

Several veterans’ organization will be on-site for the event, with information and resources for veterans, and there will be a 50-50 drawing and a Red, White, and Blue G43 Raffle.

Among the speakers for the afternoon will be Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc.

Now a civilian, Bolduc and his wife, Sharon, have been working to bridge the bureaucratic gap between military service and civilian life. He personally experienced the problem when he left the service.

“As soon as we left, that was it,” he said during a 2018 interview. “Nobody called to see how you’re doing, no one guided you from place to place. It was like you fell off a cliff.”

Those who attempt to find help in navigating the system find that everyone has a different answer to the questions, he said.

“Those gaps are huge, and they really exacerbate the suicide rate, the homeless rate, the unemployment rate, and the drugs and alcohol. People who have PTSD, traumatic brain injury, can’t get into a medical facility. The bureaucracy is too complicated, there are too many forms, and they get overwhelmed with all of that, and then they get forgotten.”

The Bolducs have been working with Veterans Count, an Easterseals program assisting veterans and their families, to bring all of the disparate resources together in New Hampshire.

Rubel said it was for that reason that they asked Bolduc to speak on Sunday. “It was not because of politics,” he said, referring to Bolduc’s run for U.S. Senator.

Support and monetary aid

The Combat Warriors Motorcycle Club is ready to help, not with a handout, but with support in locating resources and, when necessary, assistance in paying bills. Rubel told of one man who was being deployed but his family was facing the prospect of having its utilities turned off. He contacted the companies and paid off the outstanding bill to give the family a chance to hold on until his military pay came through.

The members also make themselves available during health or other crises.

Members of the group get together informally at T-Bones on Tuesday nights, when the establishment offers a 25% discount to veterans and active military personnel.

“It’s great to see people finally get recognition,” Rubel said, recalling how veterans in the 1960s and ’70s got treated. “They were not appreciated,” he said.

“This club supports each other,” he added.