For Tom Vandegrift, 62, and his wife, Amy, 58, the Peace Corps was a lifelong dream



Tom applied to Peace Corps when he was in his twenties, but at the time, the group had so many volunteers that it was mailing out post cards asking people if they wanted to withdraw their applications. Tom withdrew his and started a career in the insurance industry. When he retired, the couple quickly began to think about applying to the Peace Corps again.

For Tom Vandegrift, 62, and his wife, Amy, 58, the Peace Corps was a lifelong dream

WWII veteran is set to share passion about Peace Corps

He will speak about the group during a forum Thursday

BY TIMOTHY A. AKIMOFF
Statesman Journal

July 20, 2005

[Excerpt]

For Tom Vandegrift, 62, and his wife, Amy, 58, both of Salem, the Peace Corps was a lifelong dream. Tom applied to Peace Corps when he was in his twenties, but at the time, the group had so many volunteers that it was mailing out post cards asking people if they wanted to withdraw their applications. Tom withdrew his and started a career in the insurance industry.

When he retired, the couple quickly began to think about applying to the Peace Corps again.

The Vandegrifts studied language briefly and were assigned to Lesotho, a tiny kingdom in South Africa.

What struck Tom and Amy immediately was how closely Peace Corps workers are tied to the people they are sent to work with.

"In Peace Corps, you go into a village and live with the people," Amy Vandegrift said. "You are in the community and not just coming for a visit."

While in Lesotho, Tom taught business classes when not performing the agricultural duties to which he was assigned. He also helped villagers build a solar oven out of cardboard and potato-chip wrappers.

"First time I tested it out, I did cartwheels," Tom Vandegrift said. "Everyone came over for slices of fresh bread that actually had a crust."

And Amy taught the women of the village how to embroider the complex images and designs that adorned their huts onto pillows.

Although they were older volunteers, age always was a relative thing for the Vandegrifts.

"While we were in Lesotho, the oldest volunteers were 72. The oldest volunteer in Peace Corps was 86," Tom Vandegrift said.

When this story was posted in July 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



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Special Events for RPCVs Join the NPCA in DC for Advocacy Day on July 28 NPCA to hold Virtual Leaders Forum on July 29 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 "Artists and Patrons in Traditional African Cultures" in NY thru Sept 30 See RPCV Musical "Doing Good" in CA through Sept RPCV Film Festival in DC in October

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July 17, 2005: This Week's Top Stories C. Payne Lucas writes "Can we win the war on HIV/Aids?" 11 July Director Vasquez hints at expansion in Bangladesh 17 July Why didn't I spend my life helping others? 17 July John Beasley returns to the islands of Micronesia 17 July Jennifer Field to study glacier melting 17 July Tucker McCravy works with Serendib in Sri Lanka 17 July David Vick writes "Waging civilized warfare" 16 July Tom Petri says Nelson helped to promote civility 16 July Peace Corps Director Visits Volunteers in Mongolia 15 July John Bridgeland writes "An example for Boomers" 15 July Robert Blackwill says India and US have a great future 15 July Peace Corps debuts new internet recruitment tool 14 July Eight New Country Directors Appointed 13 July Shelton Johnson Honored for Buffalo Soldier program 13 July Bill Lorenz leads trek for Sudanese refugees 12 July Emilie Pryor says Peace Corps ignores Lariam problems 12 July DDN is Award Finalist for reporting on PC Safety 11 July Randy Lewis to hire 200 people with cognitive disabilities 10 July Maryland needs people like Tom Lewis 10 July Dan DeWayne puts on music festival 10 July

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July 9, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Mike Honda says Democratic Party in paradigm shift 6 July Peace Corps Suspends Program in Gabon 8 July Thomas Tighe says Thailand is faring better 8 July Michael Parmly appointed top diplomat in Cuba 7 July Paul Timmreck got his start trailing garbage trucks 7 July Shays says London explosions should be wakeup call 7 July Tom Murphy says: Be Vigilant, But Not Afraid 7 July Gov. Doyle saddened and outraged by London Attacks 7 July RPCV Films organizing Film Festival 6 July Terez Rose writes Aid for Africa – Will the G8 Help? 6 July Carl Youngberg takes ballet to Honduras 6 July Kafatia faces a mandatory eight years in prison 6 July Bill Moyers says LBJ hated FOIA law 6 July Andy and Trudy Anderson work with The Hunger Project 5 July Thomas A. Dine deplores the attack against reporter 5 July Mime Troupe tackles history, politics and the World Bank 4 July Francis Mandanici says investigation could lead to impeachment 4 July Beth Bedinotti says motherhood is "toughest job" 1 July Director Vasquez Visits Volunteers in Eastern Caribbean 1 July

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July 8, 2005: PC suspends program in Gabon Peace Corps announced the suspension of the program in Gabon citing the high cost of the program. In addition, a 2003 Inspector General report documented safety and security costs of $1 million that would be necessary to keep the program operating successfully. Background: In 1998 Peace Corps Volunteer Karen Phillips was was found murdered in the weeds about 100 yards from her home in Oyem, Gabon. Her killer has never been brought to justice.

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