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Politics & Government

Phillip Kraft, Darien's Face of Veterans

Meet Phillip Kraft, Darien's face of all U.S. veterans of the armed forces.

Phillip Kraft is Darien’s face of all U.S. veterans of the armed forces.

For ten years, Kraft has served as commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6933. He has served on and chaired Darien’s Commission on Monuments and Ceremonies for many more. He runs the Memorial Day parades and organizes numerous events to remember those who gave fought for their country; he is well known to Darien’s public school students and its Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops.

For his sensitivity to veterans, and for his dedication to teaching fellow Darienites that “war does not end on the battlefield,” it is hard—perhaps impossible—to thank Kraft enough.

Fittingly, Oct. 20 was proclaimed "Phillip Kraft Day" throughout all of the Town of Darien by then First Selectwoman Evonne Klein in recognition of his many years of dedication and service to veterans.

Kraft is himself an Army veteran who was drafted and shipped to Vietnam.

There, he happened to audition for a play—and got the part. Serendipitously, when The Odd Couple opened at Long Binh with Kraft playing the male lead, a correspondent for The New York Times was there and wrote a glowing review.

The date is indelibly imprinted in Kraft’s memories: March 4, 1970.

Kraft spent his remaining time in Vietnam in Special Services accompanying dignitaries and performers to events at military bases in the war zone.

Although he did not engage in combat, Kraft is presumed by federal law to have been exposed to Agent Orange, the defoliant used to clear dense jungle. Since his service, he has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, two of twelve disabilities entitling him and thousands of other Vietnam veterans to veterans’ benefits.

For the past 20 years, Kraft has dedicated himself to assisting fellow veterans with obtaining benefits for disabilities and social services as Executive Director of the National Veteran Service Fund in Darien.

In that role, he has assisted thousands of veterans of Vietnam, World War II, the Korean conflict and recent and ongoing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

 “War does not end on the battlefield,” reads the NVSF Website.

The foundation recognizes that the experience of war can affect an entire veteran family. NVSF helps those affected—especially children—get the physical, psychological and social support necessary to heal.

Kraft notes that grandchildren born to veterans exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam are being born with birth defects linked to the exposure; Persian Gulf veterans are suffering effects of their own exposure to depleted uranium, a deadly toxin released in anti-armor explosions set off by U.S. military. And the list goes on.

"It’s another one of those gifts of the government that keeps on giving," Kraft said in his glib way.

Kraft’s innate compassion and double-dimpled smile help him get the job done. Klein’s Phillip Kraft Day proclamation honors Kraft "for being a friend who will reach out a hand to anyone and let him or her know everything will be okay."

A friend of the Darien Public School students, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts alike, it is no small wonder that Kraft was invited to lead a number of in-school Veterans Day assemblies. (The Board of Education decided to keep the public schools open on Veterans Day.)

At Tuesday's assemblies, he stood before Darien’s youth, flanked by parents and grandparents who had served in the armed services. For Kraft, it was a mission accomplished.

He had recently spoken to a group of Cub Scouts who wondered what they should say if they met a veteran.

Kraft told them to simply say: "Thank you."

When he spoke at Ox Ridge Elementary School yesterday, many of those Cub Scouts were in the audience.

He asked them what they should say to the veterans standing to either side off him.

"Thank you!" they shouted in unison, bringing tears to his eyes.

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