TERRE HAUTE — Fred Gross didn’t expect to see a tall, white-bearded man wearing a red suit Wednesday when he exited his doctor’s visit at the Terre Haute VA Outpatient Clinic.
Yet sure enough, Santa Claus was there, thanking him for his military service.
Gross, 80, of Clinton had not eaten prior to his visit as required by a medical test. He smiled when Santa gave him a brown paper bag containing an orange, apple and peppermint stick.
As he prepared to be driven away in a van to return to Clinton, Goss said he looked forward to tasting the bag’s contents.
“I am on insulin and am a heavy diabetic. I am about ready to stuff these right down. I am starving,” he said.
“It shocked me,” he said of Santa’s gift. “I always think about the cost and I wondered who was paying for all the money for this, especially at this time, too. It was mighty, mighty nice of him, I’ll say that for him,” Gross said.
“It made him smile, too,” said Gross’ daughter, Judy Wright. “It lifted our spirits on this cold day.”
Gross said he served in the U.S. Marine Air Corps from 1946 to 1947. “I got in on the tail end,” he said of World War II, where he flew a fighter plane in China.
The idea for Santa to thank veterans at the Terre Haute clinic was started four years ago by Mickey Walker of Rosedale. He served in the Navy from 1956 to 1962, serving in the Korean War. His daughter, Michele Snellgrose, is a nurse at the clinic at 110 W. Honeycreek Parkway.
Walker’s wife, Ruby Walker, said Mickey decided not to portray Santa this year, as his weight dropped from 265 pounds to 168 pounds. Mickey Walker asked Doug Ripberger to fill in for him this year.
Ripberger paid for the apples, oranges and peppermints, plus took a day off work to hand out 100 brown paper bags to veterans at the clinic. Ripberger is a manager at Kmart Super Center in Terre Haute. Ripberger said his father-in-law, Ron Shannon, served in the Vietnam War.
“This helps veterans feel like they are still appreciated and are still important,” Ripberger said.
Mickey Walker, standing next to Ripberger, joked, saying, “He told me I had to join the [Santa] union, but I am strictly Confederate. He is the North Pole Santa, I am the South Pole Santa.”
Walker is a “general” in the Armies of Tennessee CSA/USA, which does historical re-enactments of Civil War battles. Walker had a relative who served in the army for the Confederate States of America.
Wayne Thomas of New Goshen said he served in an engineering company during the Korean War, serving from 1952 to 1954. “It is all right,” he said of Santa. “Especially if giving out presents. You going to be here tomorrow?” Thomas jokingly asked Santa.
Bruce Martindale, 62, of Farmersburg served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. He came to the clinic Wednesday with his wife, Karol Martindale. “This is pretty good,” Bruce Martindale said. “I’ll eat it for sure,” he said of the goodies given by Santa.
“The VA has been very good to this man. We would be nowhere without them,” Karol Martindale said. “They saw to it he got a pacemaker and treat him royally when he comes here.”
Joyce Cox, a registered nurse and clinic administrator, said the Terre Haute clinic usually sees about 150 veterans daily, including labs, primary care, nursing appointments and people who see specialists who come from an Indianapolis VA clinic. The clinic has 4,000 patrons and can handle up to 4,400. The clinic has been talking to veterans groups about the clinic and many new veterans from the Iraqi war are now using it.
“The veterans are always appreciative when they are remembered and a lot of times, we don’t do that,” Cox said. “So any time we have that special effort to remember our veterans, it is worth it.”
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.
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