It was very nice to read Tom Rancich’s story in the Vineyard Gazette of Nov. 7 about how he came to the Island and his military career. I’m glad he is getting so much out of the veterans rap group that my husband Woody Williams started in 1981 after returning to the Island from meeting and living with Marine combat veterans in the mountains of Oregon. Woody went to combat veterans groups while in Oregon and decided to try it on the Island and gathered a small group of combat veterans that he knew. They started at our house in Edgartown, then moved to the old Youth Center (now Educomp) and the Baptist Parish House in Vineyard Haven before ending up at the Island Counseling Center where Tom Bennett was working. Woody grew up with Tom in Edgartown on the Island and knew he was a veteran and counselor there. The rest is history. I am so glad to see how it has expanded to what it is today and that Julie Meader has started a group for families of veterans. It is so important to include them. Having the veterans rap group and seeing Tom Bennett individually as a family has helped immensely and produced many success stories. Keep up the good work!

Semper Fi.

Phyllis Williams
Vineyard Haven