Disabled veterans treated to lunch, show

For scores of disabled veterans, the chance to come out of the shadows was nearly as welcome as the food and entertainment served up Saturday in Franklin Square.

Twice a year, in April and October, the men of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2718 in Franklin Square cook for some of their own.

About 100 veterans -- inpatients at the state Veterans' Home at St. Albans in Queens, and the Northport VA Medical Center -- rode buses to the VFW hall on Lincoln Road, where a home-cooked lunch awaited.

They ate spaghetti and meatballs, and listened to singers from the New York USO -- four young women in retro costumes who performed patriotic songs and rousing dance tunes.

"This was fantastic," said veteran Christopher Lawrence, 57, a St. Albans patient being treated for substance abuse. "I haven't seen anything this good since I saw the Rockettes 30 years ago."

One day after President Barack Obama pledged to bring U.S. troops in Iraq home by the end of the year, the veterans were treated to a feast prepared by Ron Boehning, 70, a Vietnam vet who frequently cooks for local charities. Local Boy Scouts served the food from rolling carts.

Some of the vets had obvious disabilities. They were blind, or in wheelchairs, or had missing limbs.

Others suffer from unseen addictions and are homeless, said Kenneth Murray, an administrator at St. Albans.

Lawrence, an electrical technician in the Air Force from 1974 to 1977, got addicted to cocaine after his discharge. While staying at St. Albans, he is studying computer repair.

Eric Reilly, 23, from Shirley, did two tours in Iraq, the last in 2009. He returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder and became hooked on heroin. The two "went hand in hand," he said.

Murray said drugs "act as a buffer" between the veterans' military and civilian lives. Excursions like yesterday's are planned once a week, he said, to give patients a diversion and an opportunity to socialize.

"Little things like this do help," he said.

It was a community affair. Girl Scouts baked brownies, crumb cakes and cannolis for desert. Cub Scouts helped clean, and filled soda glasses. Women from the VFW's Ladies Auxiliary and students from several Catholic churches also volunteered.

"After it's done," said Boehning, the head cook, "you feel good."