A dedicated group of community servants spent their Veterans Day helping a local U.S. Marine Corps veteran.  Ramp builders with the Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) constructed an access ramp at the south Albany home of retired MSgt Ronald Munson.  “We feel it’s important to help anyone who needs a ramp, but we’ve got to take care of our veterans,” said Jim Hill, RSVP Ramp Crew Coordinator.  “We do vets throughout the year, but we always try to make sure we have one on Veterans Day.”
 
Munson is a decorated veteran of the Gulf War who was seriously injured in a car crash back in May.  “It was bad,” said his wife, Earleen Munson.  Mr. Munson has been hospitalized since the wreck.  He is scheduled to be released from the hospital and return home in early December, and he would not be able to get in and out of his house without a ramp.  “It’s just like a miracle that people would come out and do something for you at a time like this,” Mrs. Munson said.  “It’s wonderful, and I sure do appreciate it.”
 
The ramp crew builds ramps almost every week of the year.  They only take a break during the heat of the summer and will occasionally reschedule work in the winter if the weather gets too cold.  The team currently has 16 volunteer members.  Eight of them served in the military themselves, so building a ramp for a fellow veteran holds special meaning for them.  “They put their time in.  They did their service, so we’re happy to give back to them,” said Hill, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force.
 
Mrs. Munson felt an extra sense of pride and appreciation that the ramp builders chose to help her husband on Veterans Day.  “Words can’t explain it.  They’re still serving their country, and I’m so thankful for them,” she said.