Woodworkers present cane to Vietnam veteran who earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts

LEEDS – Ryan Jennings hopes his new cane might say the things he can’t.

More than four decades after he left Vietnam, he is reluctant to talk about how he earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

“This can answer the questions,” he said, raising the handmade cane with its carved medals. “This tells everything, so I don’t have to.”

The cane is made of cherry wood and is engraved with Jennings’ name on one side and “Vietnam” on the other. The medals decorate the space above. At the top sits the head of a bald eagle, sculpted from basswood.

Woodworker Chuck Perry of Raymond presented Jennings with the cane Friday at the home of his brother, Rodney Jennings, in Leeds.

“I’m just totally overwhelmed,” the 62-year-old veteran said minutes later as he admired the craftsmanship.

Chuck Perry and his two brothers, Bob and Luke, made the cane together. The family of woodworkers turned the cherry, burned in the lettering and carved the eagle and medals.

It represented about 75 hours of work, Chuck Perry said.

It’s work that the Perry brothers and woodworkers from across the state, members of the Maine Woodcarvers Association, are hoping to do more often.

Building on an out-of-state project for injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, the Maine group includes all veterans, regardless of which medals they earned or which wars they fought.

So far, about 35 canes have been presented, mostly to patients at the Togus VA Hospital, Chuck Perry said.

“We want to do more,” he said.

So far, none has been as complex as Jennings’ cane, with its multiple medals.

Jennings plans to take it with him, wherever he goes.

The Leeds native joined the Army in June 1966 and went to Vietnam the following year. He served as a machine gunner with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

But that’s about all Jennings wanted to say.

It’s not about being humble, he said. Rather, it’s about giving everyone who served their due, whether they were a clerk in an office or an infantry soldier on a battlefield.

“When a country goes to war, many people give up their lives,” he said. “There are no special ones. I feel everyone is special.”