After 14 years as commander of VFW Post 1305 in Mineola, Vietnam veteran Manny Grilo is leaving his post.
Grilo, a lifelong Mineola resident, isn’t resigning or dropping out of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He and his wife Louise are relocating to Gettysburg, Pa.
“It’s difficult. I’m going to miss a lot of things, especially the people,” he said. “But I won’t miss the taxes.”
He said it’s the high taxes in New York and the appeal of Gettysburg, which reminds him of Mineola, that’s prompting the move.
Grilo, 63, has spoken frequently at Veterans Day and Memorial Day observances in Mineola about the plight of military veterans, and the importance of joining veterans organizations.
He was honored with a county medal of honor for his service at ceremonies in Eisnhower Park on Aug. 4.
Grilo said his cause was inspired by several years he spent after completing his Army service disconnected from other veterans and in mental anguish. When he then joined the VFW and later Vietnam Veterans of America, the local American Legion, he learned about his veterans benefits.
Grilo said that after his 351 days of service in Vietnam – 307 days in combat – he came back to the U.S. disillusioned about a war he thought could have been won. A member of the U.S. Army 1st Division, he had been seriously wounded and was 40 percent disabled when he returned from the war in 1969.
Grilo recalled being told during basic training that if anything happened to him, the Army would take care of him. But that wasn’t the experience he had, he said.
He spent time recuperating from his physical injuries at St. Alban’s Naval Hospital in Brooklyn. He said he received good physical care, but his symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome from combat – not yet widely recognized – went untreated.
“They didn’t do anything for you mentally,” he said.
He said most other Vietnam veterans were like him, unable to talk about their combat experiences with anyone but other veterans.
Drafted a few months after graduating from Mineola High School, Grilo enlisted at 19 years old, thinking he might have more options that way. After basic training, advanced infantry and special forces training, he was offered a chance to attend officers training school. He accepted, hoping the war might end during that additional eight weeks of training.
He was subsequently shipped to Vietnam as a second lieutenant, commanding a platoon of 23 men in the Big Red One’s 2nd battalion of the 28th “Black Lions.” His first fire fight took place in a remote fire base at the outset of the Tet offensive in early 1968.
He had just sent three of his men out to a listening post on the perimeter of his unit’s fire base when, as he recalled it, “all hell broke loose” and the enemy suddenly seemed to be attacking from everywhere at once.
“They were coming over the [barbed] wire. They came from all sides,” he said. “People ask what it’s like being in a battle. It’s a scary thing.”
The battle lasted most of the night and he recalled walking through scores of enemy corpses the following morning to check on the men at the listening post.
“Don’t shoot, I’m’ coming to get you,” he yelled when he reached the perimeter.
He was relieved to find them still alive.
After that, his unit was sent to different locations throughout South Vietnam, including to Khe Sahn for three days to help the beleaguered U.S. Marines.
But the Black Lions’ primary mission was special operations, and he was soon leading patrols into Laos and Cambodia, probing enemy activity there and disguised as Viet Cong.
“I had to wear black pajamas and carry an AK-47. I had no dog tags. We were afraid of being caught because if you were caught, you were considered a mercenary,” he recalled.
When he returned to the U.S., he received the same sort of reception that many other Vietnam vets encountered. He recalled being in uniform one day when he went shopping at Roosevelt Field and was spat on by anti-war protestors gathered there.
Grilo had aspirations to become a commercial artist before he went to Vietnam, but an injury to his right arm forced him to reconsider his career aspirations when he returned.
He attended Adelphi University, acquired a bachelor’s degree in business and took a job with Aramark, a food services company, overseeing the company’s inventory operations over the subsequent 30 years of his career there and rising to a position in management.
After retiring several years ago, his primary occupation has been in helping other veterans as commander of the Mineola VFW Post, and he said he has already made plans to reconnect with the VFW in Gettysburg.
Grilo and his wife, Louise, have eight children, two of whom live in nearby Lancaster, Pa.
Grilo is a Civil War buff and a member of Friends of Gettysburg, an organization that helps to maintain the well-preserved battleground in the historic town.
And chances are that in the near future, friends from Mineola visiting Gettysburg will encounter Manny Grilo as a volunteer at the visitor center there.
At a recent American Legion meeting, recently elected post commander Carl Marchese acknowledged the support he’s received from Grilo in the first months of his tenure.
“Manny’s been my wing man for the past several months,” he said. “Manny, we’re going to miss you.”
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