For more information and to help, visit the Donor Outreach for Veterans, Corp. (DOVE) website.
Pat Vellucci needs our help.
Vellucci is a Jersey guy and a Vietnam veteran. He volunteered to go to the southeastern Asian nation as the U.S. military presence, and the war itself, was escalating in 1967. He came back a year later having earned a Purple Heart.
He overcame a lot in his post-military years – the trauma of his military service and the vilification he and his fellow service members endured for years at the hands of a nation soured by the Vietnam experience and angered by its humiliating end.
Vellucci also overcame dyslexia and survived a bout with cancer – probably caused by his exposure to the Agent Orange defoliant used liberally by the military in the Vietnam jungles where Vellucci served.
Vellucci is currently fighting a new battle. He has a failing kidney which requires him to be on a dialysis machine three times a week. His kidney failure is worsening.
He needs a new kidney and to find it, he needs our help.
And he deserves our help.
Patrick Julian Vellucci is quintessential New Jersey. He was born in Jersey City in 1947 and grew up in Union City where he was a self-proclaimed stickball champion of his neighborhood.
He spent his summers at Point Pleasant. He moved to Paramus and played for the football team and after high school, attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts which would help lay the foundation of his post-military career.
He volunteered to join the Army in 1966 and after serving in Germany for six months, he volunteered to go to Vietnam. He served there in 1967-68 with the 10th Calvary, 4th Infantry Division.
After his service he worked in the entertainment field, becoming a successful producer, director and actor. He came to know and work with many of the luminaries in front of and behind the camera.
But the experiences of his wartime service and the treatment he and his fellow veterans suffered after the war was never far from his mind.
When the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Museum (NJVVMM) opened in Holmdel, Vellucci finally had a platform for expressing his passion and his love for his fellow veterans and to make sure the country would not forget what the veterans of Vietnam had done.
He has liberally donated his time and talent to the NJVVMM for two decades.
“We could not do what we do here without Pat,” said Amy Osborn, CEO of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation. “Pat has been a presence here for 20 years. He knows more about this place than anyone else.”
“He is very passionate about the veterans,” said John Nugent, a Vietnam vet who has become a close friend of Vellucci’s since volunteering at the NJVVMM 15 years ago. Nugent served in Vietnam in 1966-67 with the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. “Pat tells great stories on his tours. They are life lessons for young people and students.”
Osborn says she benefits from Vellucci’s eloquence as well.
“I give speeches and interviews, and I get a lot of compliments,” she said. “That is all Pat. His words are beautiful.
“I am glad to say he is a good friend,” said Nugent, “and he is such a key player at the NJVVMM. He is always upbeat and smiling. You would never know he need a kidney and needs it quickly.”
“Pat personifies the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Museum,” Osborn continued. “He brings so much knowledge and so much passion to the tours and to his work here. He is a very special person.”
Not long ago, Vellucci was in line for a kidney transplant only to be thwarted by a heart issue. By the time the heart problem was reconciled, it was too late for him to receive the kidney matched to him. He is hoping another matching kidney will be found.
This is where we come in.
Tell everyone you know the story of Pat Vellucci.
He was there for us. Let’s be there for him.
Let’s find him the kidney he needs.
Quickly.
