Vietnam veteran works to help others with disabilities

Like he was in the Vietnam War 44 years ago, blinded Marine veteran Joe Tasby will be a hero again Saturday when he leads his team on a two-mile hike through Bunker Family Park.

This time Tasby will be walking for charity in hopes of raising money to help disabled war veterans and others with disabilities to become self-sufficient.

"I'm only doing it because I believe in what they're doing," Tasby said Thursday about the Walk With Me event to benefit Easter Seals Nevada.

Helping other veterans is Tasby's outlet for his combat experiences. Volunteering, he said, makes him see special days like Easter and Veterans Day in a different way.

"It took me a long time to come to grips with it," he said about his days with the 1st Battalion, 9th Marines in Khe Sanh, Vietnam, a unit known as "The Walking Dead." The unit racked up the Marines' highest killed-in-action rate during more than 47 months of combat from 1965 to 1969.

Tasby was promoted from private to sergeant in a two-year span and received the Navy Commendation medal with three accompanying gold stars awarded for heroic achievement as a corporal and squad leader. He was recognized for "superb leadership, courage and composure under fire from April 30, 1968 to Feb. 28, 1969, including once for "fearlessly crawling across the fire-swept terrain" and returning with wounded comrades, according to his citation from Lt. Gen. H.W. Buse.

It wasn't until decades after the war that his vision became impaired. He began losing his sight in 2000 from cone-rod dystrophy, a progressive affliction.

Tasby is an honorary ambassador for Easter Seals Nevada and has received help with getting a computer that magnifies text and photos that allows him to "do things I couldn't do, again."

"Now I can make fliers and newsletters," said Tasby, who is also commander of American Legion Post 14, a member of the Blinded Veterans Association and the Nevada Council of Blind Lions.

Easter Seals Nevada has launched an effort to work with veterans, primarily those who are vision-impaired.

"I really like what they're trying to cultivate. We want to do what we can to help more veterans," he said.

Donations can be made to walk with Tasby's team at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Bunker Family Park, located at Tenaya Way and Alexander Road.

Registration starts at 8 a.m., or donations can be made online at www.walkwithme.org/lasvegas.

Easter Seals Nevada is one of the state's largest community disability agencies, serving 6,000 people with disabilities and their families each year.

Typical pledge donations are $40 which is $5 more than it costs to provide an hour of therapy for a child with autism, according to Walk With Me organizers.

Those who raise more than $40 receive a "Walk With Me" T-shirt.

At 10:15 a.m., Easter Seals will host an egg hunt and carnival at the park. The cost to participate is $5 per child.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.