The Day – North Stonington Community Comes Together to Help Marine Corps Veteran Find Safe Home

North Stonington – What started as an effort to replace an 82-year-old Marine Corps veteran’s lost cane has turned into one to rescue him from poor living conditions, and the state’s attorney general has recognized those involved for helping a member of the community.

David Guy is a regular customer at the Red Onion Pizza Restaurant on Route 2, where Cheryl Haase has worked since the restaurant opened. Guy gets a grinder every week; his favorite is sausage.

Haase said Guy came by one day last year and said he had lost his rod, so she posted in a Facebook group for help and had four rods within 48 hours. She and her family then invited Guy over for Thanksgiving dinner, and when she brought him home with the leftovers, she was “blown away by how he lived. I couldn’t even sleep that night. -the”.

“The mold and mildew were just beyond that,” Haase said. But the community has rallied to put Guy in motels, and on Monday he’s heading to veterans base camp at Chaplin.

Located on 45 acres, Veterans Base Camp is a non-profit, faith-based organization that provides housing, food and support to veterans. The property is put up for sale, and the veteran base camp tries to raise money to buy it. people can donate at Veteransbasecampinc.org.

On Tuesday, Attorney General William Tong visited Red Onion to present Haase, Connecticut State Police Trooper Jason McCarthy and first draft pick Bob Carlson with the Attorney General’s first-ever Citizen Hero Award. State Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, and Rep. Greg Howard, R-Stonington, also presented a citation from the Connecticut General Assembly.

McCarthy said he was called in for a wellness check and on visiting Guy’s trailer found the living conditions were not good. He took photos and sent them to the attorney general’s office.

Haase and Carlson noted that a tree branch fell on the mobile home, causing damage that opened the house up to the weather, causing mold and mildew.

Peter Brown, assistant director of constituent services at the Attorney General’s Office, also noted that a call about Guy’s situation had come through to the Elder Justice hotline. It was sent to Associate Attorney General Sandy Arenas, who coordinated with other state agencies to work on housing.

Guy has been in a motel since December. Haase said his church — Babcock Presbyterian Church in Ashaway, RI — helped, and then Dunns Corner Community Church Presbyterian in Westerly and Grace Fellowship Evangelical Free Church in North Stonington donated. Community members would come to Red Onion’s window to donate money.

“Everyone could use a hand once in a while,” Tong said, “and that’s what happens when people come together.”

“We didn’t just want him to be just another forgotten veteran,” Haase said. The issue is close to his heart: Haase said his father served in Vietnam, rained with Agent Orange and got his disability benefits on his deathbed.

Guy sat quietly at a table in the small restaurant on Tuesday as officials and reporters crowded around. He had the cane that was once lost: Since it had his name and address on it, Haase said Guy returned to his trailer one day to find it leaning against the trailer door.

e.moser@theday.com