D-DAY MEMORY TOUR

The Germans were flabbergasted when they found out this was
happening. Major Cy Manierre was a West Point graduate who
had been dropped into France, and was working with the French
Underground when captured and tortured. He told Bill and me to
repeat his story, that he was a member of the Air Corps, had been
shot down and picked up by the French Underground. If the
Germans knew the truth, he could have been shot as a spy. They
believed him, and he was sent to the same camp as Bill and I. Their
mother received two telegrams on the same day, 1:00 AM, 1:00 PM
on both sons - Missing in Action. "fact is greater than fiction."
Stovroff is now a volunteer National Service Officer at West Palm
Beach VA Center, working only with ex-POWs to help get pensions
and compensations. He has met six ex-POWs that were in his
camp. And stranger than fiction, his next door neighbor in Florida was in the same barracks as Stovroff when he was
in Stalag Luft #1 "segregated". This man's family owned KATZ DELICATESSEN in New York whose slogan was "Send
a Salami to a Soldier In the Army."
VETS HELPING HEROES
Determined to pay it forward, after retiring from a long career in sales,
Irwin, volunteered at the West Palm Beach, FL VA Hospital. In 2007 he
learned that veterans with PTSD were suffering for years with nightmares,
panic attacks, flashbacks, mood disorders and quite often addictions; and that
the VA was not paying for service dogs. Despite his own PTSD and the
personal challenges, Irwin worked feverously to found Vets Helping Heroes, a
nonprofit dedicated to providing assistance dogs for active duty military and
retired personnel veterans recovering from the physical and psychological challenges they suffered
as a result of their service to our country.
Vets Helping Heroes has a versatile and active board of directors comprised of high ranking
business professional in the fields of Law, Computers, Healthcare, Non-profit, Film Production,
Sales and more. This dynamic team enables us the best advantage to achieve our goals. In addition,
many of our board members are retired military with first-hand knowledge and experience of the
plight of the injured that we seek to help.
Irwin Stovroff Visits Normandy 70 Years Later
Irwin became the American Veteran Air Force "Rock Star" of
Normandy and I grew muscles pushing him around in his aluminum
wheel chair. Irwin's Doris and my wife, Barbara were thrilled to see
the joy Irwin experienced during the entire trip.
We spent 3 days in Paris showing Irwin the best sites and food
followed by a great Tauck river boat cruise to Normandy with other
stops along the way. The high light of our journey was spending 2
days in Normandy with Jean-Pierre Paviot and family as they drove
us to all the sites and arranged many of our visits.
Irwin wore his French Legion of Honor medal and was instantly
recognized as a hero to the French populations as well as Americans
& others where ever we went and was thus surrounded with swarms
of people to honor his service to their country and thanked him for
helping to save France from the Nazi's.
Vets Helpings Heroes General information
How to apply, how you can help, donation inquiries etc.
Phone: 561-953-5250
vhhinfo@vetshelpingheroes.org