Special Assistance for Veterans Endeavors

20 years ago I do not know how I started but I began to help veterans in a big way. I don't know where to start but I am a REAL Veterans advocate. I tamed the Harlingen VA into doing everything I needed to have done. I saved veterans lives by interfering with the VA. a decade ago when a new Director would take over the Harlingen Clinic they would call me into the office to ask me how things were going in the community in reference to the VA.

I helped Steve Garcia a survivor of Hamburger Hill stay alive longer. While he went into the VA hospital his mom stayed at home. they lived together. She was about 4'6" tall. his nutrition consisted of the small cans of beanie weenies and crackers. He was service-connected at 30%. His sister Olga contacted me while I was the CEO of the Harlingen Veterans Memorial. She called for help for Steve and all the guys working on the memorial knew I could and would him help. While Steve was at home his mom passed away at the hospital. Steve was at home now minus a leg. It had been amputated while he was in the hospital. He was drinking beer and smoking weed. I would hat him whatever he wanted because my heart would hurt him. He asked me to please see if I could get him an e Xray for his purple heart. I could not get any of the doctors to do that for him. I would visit him every day and still be available for the Harlingen Veterans Memorial. The phone call I made to get Lee Roy for a c-pak was nothing when AJ needed to stay in the alcohol-free housing and he was denied I got it done in no time. I could have done more and some of me after I left help is in working. I am not a bragger I am a doer. I don't have money because I was busy taking care of my family and trying to understand why I was not like everyone else. why I had to be humiliated in front of everyone I knew. As you know PTSD is not visible. I wept and would live in cars with my family and once when we were broke my wife and kids and me out of gas I pulled into a Philips gas station and knowing I was behind in my payments. I pulled in and got a few dollars of gas and a half-gallon of milk chips for the kids and mayonnaise bologna and cheese.WE left and drove around until we found a place where my wife had relatives, We stayed until they said I was just a bum and did not want to work, so we were asked to vacated the premise. a short time past and I got a job and we were living in a horrible little house without the insulation it was winter in Dallas. WE would sleep all in one room and my wife kelp my children warn and we had a stove that burned all night. The windows were not sealed and we had ice on the inside. We had one car. I would have anxiety attacks and I would drive myself to the VA only to find out I was having anxiety attacks. One day as I was driving to work I was stopped at a regular police stop to check licenses. I was not worried until I was asked to step out of the car. I asked the officer why was I being stoped and he said credit card abuse. $7.00 at the gas station for gas and food. Off to jail and then my wife had to ask her relatives for bail money. At night when my wife and daughters were sleeping and I was outside with a 357 magnum guarding our house. If our children got sick we had to go to Parkland Hospital which was the free clinic for the indigent.then if we needed medication we had to get it on our own. We had to sleep in shacks for sheep and lambs. we cleaned as well as we could. This is a summary of what my book is about.

If you read the book and like it, you might be able to share it with Gary Sinise's people and they might like it and help me sell it. ( noticed he was part of the movie abut the guy on the motorcycle).

This is a short version of my book it is all true.

Think about it and if you can help please do so, if not it is OK. I am on the verge of the injection to help me with PTSD. If you think I am way too in love wit;h my book and it is not that good. I'm 71 years old. My main purpose is the help veterans.

Fred Rendon Jr.

Good afternoon all! The Special Assistance for Veterans Endeavors (SAVE) is back in the business of helping those in need. I have recently become a member of the team, and have taken on the responsibility of change manager for the charity. As we look to re-brand the organization, we will still be able to lean on Fred Rendon Jr., for his experience and leadership to continue to be the compass bearer for the organization. With Fred's guidance, I will be managing the operations, and looking to continue to expand the footprint of SAVE.

I would like to tell you a little bit about myself to help get this new relationship off on the right footing. I was born and raised in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Duncanville specifically. After finishing school, I decided to join the military with my friend Travis. After careful deliberation, we decided that we could depart for initial entry training after the Christmas holidays. We didn't want to miss out on Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas and New Years Eve. I went to Basic Training at Ft. Benning, GA for Infanttry training. Upon completion, I went on to the Static Line Airborne training, at Ft. Benning, on Main Post. Travis and I received orders to the 101st ABN Div and reported after a short period of LEAVE.

While in the 101st, I served in the 3rd BDE, 187th INF REG and the Long Range Surveillance Detachment (LRSD) for 8 years. My time there included deployments to Kosovo and Iraq. I seperated from Active Duty late 2004, where I joined the Texas Army National Guard. After joining the NG, I was afforded the opportunity to go to Special Forces Assessment and Selection. I was selected to attend the 18E (Communications SGT) training. Once finished with the SF Qualification Course, I was assigned to SFODA 9536, where I served as the Jr. Commo SGT for about a year. The SFODA needed an Intelligence and Operations SGT, and I attended the 18F course shortly after.

Once I finished with the 18F training, I immediately deployed to Afghanistan. During my time in Afghanistan, I conducted several operations that would expose me to situations that my mind was not ready to process. This experience helped shape me into the person I am today, but had changed the way I processed basic information. Everyone was now a threat, or not a threat. Aside from the kinetic deployments, I have been deployed 9 additional times to build partnership capacity in developing countries. During these trips, I have sustained additional injuries.

Where SAVE is headed: I would like to expand our ability to reach additional Veterans who need our help. With Fred down in South Texas and myself in South Central Texas, we now have more operational reach than before! If you know of anyone within the San Antonio or Harlingen areas in need of Assistance, please share this site or our contact information. We would be glad to offer asssistance to those who are having a tough time dealing with pending VA claims, or those who need help submitting initial claims to get the help needed to live a normal life.

Thanks, and I look forward to working with those who answered the nation's call in a time of peace or armed conflict.

Best,

Lucas