A retired Army captain, the 61-year-old Meriden resident's patriotism is not blind, but thoughtful, shaped by her experience in Vietnam.
"Before I went to Vietnam, I was very patriotic," she said. "Since then, I've been cautiously patriotic."
Baranoski is one of four honorary grand marshals of today's 10th annual Connecticut Veterans Day Parade, in Hartford, which is expected to involve more than 4,000 marchers. This year, the parade will include a special salute to those who served in Vietnam, a conflict that was highly unpopular among many Americans by the time it was resolved.
Baranoski said she considers it "a tremendous honor" and said her participation is for all the others who served, because she doesn't see what she did as all that extraordinary.
"Women who served in Vietnam were not actually recognized for their contributions until many years after the war ended; having Madelon represent the women of Vietnam is a well-deserved honor," said state Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Linda Schwartz. "She embodies many of the strongest attributes those women brought to their service. Although she would be the last to claim to be a hero, I believe her military service, compassion and dedication to excellence are most worthy of that praise."
|
|
Her experience in treating casualties during the war played a role in shaping her career afterward. Baranoski is associate clinical professor in the Law and Psychiatry Division of the Yale University School of Medicine, and is considered a pioneer in identifying and treating post traumatic stress disorder. She also specializes in forensic psychology and law enforcement dealings with people with mental illness. She has taught at the New Haven Police Academy, the state police and municipal police departments.
"It was Vietnam that got me into psychology," she said.
A family history of service
Baranoski, who grew up in Pennsylvania, and her husband, Robert Baranoski, who is from Middletown, have lived in Meriden since the late 1980s.
Sons Jacob and Stephen attended St. Stanislaus School and then Choate Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford, for Jacob, and Xavier High School, in Middletown, for Stephen. Both are in college now.
Living with the Baranoskis these days are Madelon's parents, Fred and Marie Visintainer.
Though they grew up not more than three miles from one another in Pennsylvania, the two never met until a brief encounter in the South Pacific during World War II.
Married in 1946, they have 16 grandchildren and are awaiting the birth of their first great-grandchild, due any day now.
Madelon Baranoski's grandparents were immigrants from Tyrol, an alpine region in Europe.
The family's subsequent commitment to military service was shaped by the perception that the new, adopted country offered opportunities they otherwise would not have had, and that something was owed in return.
Fred Visintainer, who is now 94, grew up on a strawberry farm in Drums, a small Pennsylvania town near Hazelton, which was where Marie, then Marie Rossi, was growing up.
At one time, he was the only teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in Drums, teaching all eight grades, all subjects.
In 1942, he joined the Army Signal Corps and began training as a radar specialist.
"I said, 'What the heck is radar?' " he recalled. "I'd never heard of the word before."
After six weeks of training, he was asked to teach, but he had other ideas. "I said, no, I've done enough teaching," he said.
After training with B-29 bombers in Nebraska, Fred Visintainer was headed to the South Pacific as a radar mechanic.
After graduating from the Hazelton Hospital School of Nursing in 1942, Marie Visintainer, who is 88, joined the Navy as a nurse.
She spent six months in Philadelphia, taking care of patients who'd returned from Guadalcanal.
She spent some time in Hawaii, from where she was transferred to Guam, arriving at the onset of the battle for Iwo Jima.
"We worked around the clock," recalled Marie Visintainer. "After the first 24 hours, you're like a zombie. And then when there's time to rest, sleep won't come."
"I think war is ugly," she said. "But you don't hear about the ugliest things."
Back in Pennsylvania, relatives of both were attending the same church and it became clear that they were both serving in the same area of the war.
"Dad was told to contact mom," said Baranoski.
This he did, but arranging a meeting was not a simple task. Fred Visintainer had to get a letter from his commanding office just to see her, Marie recalled.
"At that time, Navy nurses were not allowed to be married in the service," she said.
They met on Guam just once, and while they exchanged letters, they weren't able to get together again until the war was over.
They married in 1946. Fred Visintainer returned to Drums, and to teaching, this time math and science for seventh- and eighth-graders.
During his career, he was also principal of a middle school in Hazelton.
"So you better believe we were good in math and science," said Baranoski.
A cautious patriotism
The oldest of the five children, Baranoski said "We grew up with the value of having served in World War II."
Baranoski attended the University of Maryland on a military scholarship, graduating with a degree in nursing in 1969. She went to Vietnam in March of 1970.
The Vietnam era is generally associated with the war resistance movement, particularly on university campuses, but that was not always the case. Baranoski recalls a sign from a pep rally her freshman year, which read: "Beat Penn State - and the Viet Cong."
"By the time I left college, there were protests on campus against the war," she said.
She spent a year in Vietnam, and remained another three years in the service, fulfilling her scholarship obligation. Later, she earned a master's degree in nursing at Yale, and then her doctorate, in psychology, from the University of Pennsylvania. She's been teaching at Yale since 1982.
One aspect of Vietnam that was different from previous conflicts was the ability to transfer casualties quickly from the battlefield, via helicopter. That meant increased chance of survival, but also a different set of challenges. The number of casualties, Baranoski recalled, overwhelmed the system.
It was the experience of treating and helping those casualties that led to the interests that would shape not only her career but also the way she looks at patriotism.
"You have to support the troops, obviously," she said. "But the best patriotism is helping keep the country from making mistakes."
jkurz@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2213
