American Legion Post 43's first U.S. Veterans Choice Comedy Awards will rebroadcast Sunday, July 10, from 7-10 p.m. on Charter Cable Channel 181.
Hollywood American Legion Post 43's first U.S. Veterans Choice Comedy Awards will rebroadcast Sunday, July 10, from 7-10 p.m. on Charter Cable Channel 181. Watch a trailer of the award event here.
The military experience is filled with comedy and calamity, and until recently Hollywood did not recognize and honor the heroes who have used their own tragedies to give others joy.
On April 30, the first U.S. Veterans Choice Comedy Awards filled that void just as it filled American Legion Post 43 in Hollywood with laughter. Comedians Paul Rodriguez and Kiki Melendez hosted the event. Among the awards presented were two for comedies, as selected by the veteran audience, the Roy P. Benavidez Award for Valor, and a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The ceremony celebrated the brave and heroic actions of all branches of service and comforted at-risk military veterans. Rodriguez and Melendez set the tone for an evening where no veteran issue was sacred.
Rodriguez, an Air Force veteran with a unique brand of humor that blends his Latin heritage and the American dream, showed great respect for the veterans both on and off the stage. “I don’t wear a tie for anyone, unless I’m going to court,” he said. “But I put one on for the veterans.”
Other comedians such as Tony Vinh and Anthony Torino, along with veteran community supporters, veteran celebrities and other guests honored the service of military members while raising awareness about the concerns of veterans. Audience members expressed a range of emotions from roaring laughter to holding back tears as veterans discussed everything from boot camp antics to burning up in an IED explosion.
Between comedy sets, the awards show recognized veterans for successful transitions and the work they do to support the veteran community.
Patricia Hall, a Marine Corps veteran who sustained a life-changing disability that ended her 10-year career, described how the local nonprofit Thank A Vet helped her find stability and get back to school facilitating her new carrier making soaps and cosmetics at her own business, the Dream and Water Soap Company. “It’s my passion to help make sure no other veteran has to endure the same hardships I have,” Hall said. “It’s my vision that together we can make a difference.”
Comedian Bobby Henline was presented with the Roy P. Benavidez Award for Valor. He was introduced as an American hero seriously wounded in Iraq who now spreads joy and hope through his love of standup comedy. Yvette Benavidez Garcia, daughter of the late Medal of Honor recipient Roy P. Benavidez, presented the award named after her father. Benavidez was the recipient of the Medal of Honor for his valorous actions in combat near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, on May 2, 1968.
“My father is an American icon and a national war hero,” said Garcia. “He is a hero, but he quite often shied away from that title because he didn’t feel like he was worthy of it. A hero is somebody who goes above and beyond the call of duty, and in every aspect of war he was a true hero. But to him, the heroes were the ones who never made it back.”
Henline takes self-deprecating humor to the next level with his motivating hysterical observations of life as a wounded veteran. This self-described “well done comedian” was burned over nearly 40 percent of his body when a roadside bomb hit his humvee during his fourth tour in Iraq in 2007. After 47 surgeries, Henline got into standup comedy and has turned his tragedy into inspiration, ridiculously funny inspiration.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I am a burn survivor,” he said. “I’ve been extinguished for years.” Henline described the process of his surgeries as taking the good skin and moving it around in place of the bad skin. “I love taking advantage of my disabling good looks,” he said. “Being burned is just like being old, I can say whatever what I want and get away with it.”
Like most veterans, Henline doesn’t think of himself as a hero. “The term hero is thrown around a lot these days,” he explained. “Vets don’t think of ourselves as heroes. Being a hero is like being beautiful; it’s in the eye of the beholder. We’re no different than you guys. Being a wounded warrior is no different than you. The only difference is you put your pants on one leg at a time, we put on one leg at a time and then our pants.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dick Van Dyke, honorary member of Post 43, and an Emmy and Grammy winner. He told the story of how he had to make three attempts to get into the Army Air Corps because he was below the minimum weight of 141 pounds, but on the third try he ate four bananas, drank two glasses of milk and just made the weight.
He started his career as a performer in the military and attributes the experience to much of his success. “The experience we have contributes to who we are,” Van Dyke said.
Post 43 member Milo Staley presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Van Dyke, but it was Staley whose story Van Dyke wanted to tell. A combat veteran of the U.S. Navy, Staley struggled after witnessing the suicide of a fellow veteran while on deployment in Iraq. The struggle created such a burden that his life spiraled out of control. He lost his family and eventually became homeless. Other veterans stepped up and helped Staley turn his life around and now he is dedicated to helping homeless veterans. Every year he organizes his own skid row cleanup campaign, and he’s always ready to help anyone who wants to turn their life around.
Between standup routines and award presentations the show recognized veteran guests, including American Legion Post 43 Commander Timothy J. Shaner and Sergeant-At-Arms Larry Pitkin. Shaner is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the Coast Guard providing crucial search and rescue between Cuba and Key West.
Pitkin, who served in the Marines, performed his duty welcoming guests to the post he refers to as his second home. “The Hollywood American Legion is the family I didn’t know I had. Besides my actual family, these are the greatest people to me.”
The evening came to a close with the winners of the Vet Choice Comedy Awards going to Henline and comedian Eric Knowles, a Marine Corps veteran.
Knowles found the crowd’s applause thanking him for his service amusing. “I love that you all just assume that I did a good job,” he said. “I did an OK job, but the Marine Corps is no place for a standup comedian it turns out. I got in a lot of trouble when I was in.”
Knowles recapped his boot camp experience with a perspective those who have been there could easily relate to and those who haven’t could easily laugh about. “I could never keep a straight face,” he explained. “And the Marines are very professional. ‘What’s so funny Knowles, why are you smiling?’ Everything around here is hilarious,” he said.
As the crowd applauded Henline when he received his second award of the night, he held up his left arm which is badly burned with the hand amputated. “Keep clapping, because I can’t. Rub it in,” he joked.
Henline makes no apologies and no excuses. “I’m a survivor, and I try to drive on from here,” he said. “I was the guy who made it back, and now I’m trying to live life to the fullest, and I get to help other veterans because of that and I thank God that he has given me the strength and the courage to do what I do.”
Proceeds from the event support homeless and at-risk veterans with food, clothing and guidance to help get them off the streets. The ceremony will be broadcast on Charter Cable on June 19 at 7 p.m. It will also be available on the Internet, but details are still being worked out.
- Honor & Remembrance