Brotherhood over breakfast: 177th vets make morning meetup a weekly event

In the side dining room, the tables get pushed together creating a long mess hall-like place to eat. The large coffee brewers are filled, and the green menus featuring the “177th breakfast specials” are on every place setting.

“You have to get here by five after eight, or you won’t get your seat,” said Herb Davis, 73, of Galloway Township.

Davis is just one of the nearly 40 veterans from the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard who meet up for breakfast every week at the diner along Route 30.

The group is officially called the 177th Reunion Association, but the morning breakfast club is one of its more informal meet-ups.

The men have varied backgrounds of service, military time and career length, but their time with the 177th, which is stationed at the Atlantic City Air National Guard Base in Egg Harbor Township, has created a bond between them.

“It’s a brotherhood,” said Ron Mathis, 72, of Northfield.

Between 30 to 50 men show up for breakfast regularly, from every era of service. Some of the men started their careers in the National Guard, working on the base as radar technicians, mechanics and crew chiefs, while others may have served in branches of the Army, Navy or Air Force before settling in South Jersey and working as a reservist. The mixture of officers and enlisted are all considered of service, with their own military history, but a group joined together by their intersecting stories and experiences.

At around 9 a.m., Ken Laino, the reunion association’s president, makes an announcement about upcoming events – a Veterans Day program happening in Egg Harbor City and the pending hospital release of a fellow retiree of the Jersey Devils, the nickname of the 177th.

Laino, 83, of Galloway Township, assumed the role of president of the organization. “You gotta keep some kind of order,” he said.

In 1969, the 177th was activated from the National Guard Reserves to active duty within other branches of the military. The assignments scattered the reservists to air bases across the country, but many were integrated to the U.S. Air Force 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The 355th unit was quickly assigned to deploy to Phuket, Thailand, during the Vietnam War, spending one year flying air support, interdiction and search and rescue missions.

As the men activated to the Vietnam War were retiring from either the military or their civilian careers, the Reunion Association was formed in 1991. The breakfast meetings previously took place at the now-closed Northfield Diner but moved to the Galloway Diner two years ago.

“These are my guys,” said Kim Dilliplane, 47, of Egg Harbor City, who has been one of the dedicated Galloway Diner waitresses to the 177th veterans. “I love Thursday mornings.”

Jokes about being a flight mechanic for the Wright Brothers are tossed around, while men greet each other with a smile and a fill-up of coffee.

Concerns about benefits

Before the hot plates of pancakes and omelets are served, the conversations often steer toward the health and physical issues affecting today’s veterans.

The weekly meetups give guys like Pete Hecht, 70, of Galloway Township, and Jimmy Johnson, 72, of Absecon, a chance to share information about co-pays, prescription plans and other health benefits they are entitled to as veterans.

“You learn so much at this table,” said Joe Harrison, 73, of Egg Harbor Township. ”You hear everyone talk about what’s hurting them, what their doctors are saying and what they learned from the (Veterans Association).”

More than 14,000 veterans live in Atlantic County, according to population data from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Of that number, an estimated 6,365 are from the Vietnam Conflict era, between ages 65 and 84.

“I learned I needed to switch health care,” said Bob Fusco, 72, of Absecon. “We were all afraid of TriCare (the U.S. Department of Defense’s health care program available for military retirees and dependents), but the plan has really helped a lot of us with costs and coverage.”

Fred Spano, 77, of Ocean City, explains how he experiences the side effects of Agent Orange exposure, which has lived in his system since his time in Vietnam. He, and several of the men at the table, talk about the steps they take to receive compensation through the VA benefits programs.

“Going through the VA can be like going through a minefield,” Fusco said.

Herb Davis, 73, of Galloway Township, is a part-time volunteer at the Northfield VA Center and tends to keep his friends in the 177th retirement club aware of the benefits.

“A lot of the guys just don’t know what they’re entitled to,” Davis said, explaining how the VA system has undergone many changes, locally and nationally, in the decades since these men were active duty.

Beyond the weekly breakfasts, the reunion association plans a trip to Myrtle Beach and has dinners in Vineland to connect with other less-local 177th veterans. Aside from the annual trips, the group also helps with other local service organizations and supports their fellow veterans with hospital visits.

This past summer, Laino had an extended stay at a local hospital. He said he was visited many times by his brothers from the 177th.

“My daughter thought that was the greatest thing in the world, that I had that many friends ... and they’re all from the breakfast,” Laino said.

As the tables fill up and the coffee gets poured, someone yells from the far end of the table “the general’s here!,” as Barry Johnson, 71, of Galloway Township, enters the dining room.

Johnson ended a 42-year career in 2014 as a colonel in the National Guard. He wears his Vietnam hat, adorned with pins indicating his active service and the airplanes he worked on as a mechanic.

“Some of these guys worked with me when I was an engine mechanic, and some of the guys worked with me when I was a commander,” Johnson said. “But they all have a linkage from their service in Vietnam and in the 177.”

Johnson describes himself as a “people person,” which is what keeps him active with the Reunion Association.

“It’s camaraderie,” Johnson said, “they may not have known you when you were at the base, but they know you now.”