Stand Down in Auburn supports veterans and their families

By Ellen Leahy

Veterans Support Day and Stand Down hosted its seventh yearly event at Case Mansion. Stand Down is a military term used when personnel are regrouping or in a safe place to recuperate, resupply and prepare for another mission said Ernest “Bull” Bullock, a Vietnam veteran and Point Man for International Ministries Outpost Leader, Cayuga County.

This grassroots fundraiser and support operation started as an idea to provide community resource information about issues important to veterans, such as mental health counseling for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, other medical care, employment opportunities. It took place in Ernest and Regina Bullock’s backyard for three years and has now grown to include veterans coming from all over the region.

Ernest Bullock said he thought he was going to be an Air Force aircraft mechanic in Vietnam but instead he ended up commanding a combat crew on a gunship during the TET Offensive. “I do what I do because of two guys killed in Vietnam, Joseph Ernest Smith and John Patrick Larkin,” Bullock said. “I carry the truth for them and other veterans that haven’t come out of the woods yet.”

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