PROGRAM GIVES VETERANS FREE RIDES TO MEDICAL ASSISTANCE COORDINATOR SAYS MORE DRIVERS NEEDED.

Byline: Angie Valencia Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - For six years, Harry Kundin transported disabled local veterans to Veterans Administration hospitals in Sepulveda and West Los Angeles as part of a volunteer-based transportation network.

Being a disabled WWII veteran himself, the Simi Valley resident understood the importance of his former brothers-in-arms receiving the medical attention they required.

``The only way I could assure that vets would be taken care of was to get involved,'' Kundin said. ``These vets don't have a car or anybody to drive them to the hospital. They need help.''

Kundin was the first to establish a pickup point in Simi Valley and made consistent rounds to the medical centers three to four times a week. Then his own health problems sidelined him two years ago.

Now 85, Kundin undergoes kidney dialysis three times a week, and he no longer drives.

``We're hurting for volunteers because a lot of our drivers are getting too old,'' said Disabled American Veterans Transportation Coordinator Marie Williams, responsible for getting Southland vets to their Sepulveda and West L.A. appointments. ``Most of the people we have are WWII veterans in their 70s and 80s.''

``The younger group of vets, they're still establishing their lives and families,'' she said. ``In today's economy they have to work.''

In the late 1980s, the DAV staffed and funded a nationwide volunteer-based transportation network, recognizing the need to get veterans to and from medical appointments.

Now, a handful of volunteers who report to Williams are able to transport in vans 1,000 disabled veterans to Sepulveda and West Los Angeles per month.

When Kundin could no longer organize the rounds from the pickup point at the Simi Valley Senior Center to the VA hospitals, he passed the torch on to another WWII veteran, Bob Laney, another Simi Valley resident.

Just as his predecessor did, Laney finds himself driving vets to hospitals three to four times a week, or as necessary. He helps transport 80 to 90 veterans monthly from the Simi Valley/Moorpark area. And while Laney stretches himself thin, the need is too great to pass up.

Kundin laughs when he says he chose the right apprentice.

All the 78-year-old Laney can say about his job is ``I like it. It makes me feel pretty good.''

Claire Kundin, who's been married to Harry for 62 years, jokes how throughout her lifetime she's played second fiddle to his commitment to the military in his earlier years and to the DAV in his later years.

``He would leave me home sick,'' she says jokingly, ``and say, 'I've got to get the men to the hospital.'''

It is that kind of dedication, Williams said, that the organization will need to continue its efforts.

``Currently, all of the drivers I supervise are veterans,'' Williams said. ``They recognize the need and share a sense of honor and dedication.''

Volunteers drive the van one day per week, from 8 a.m. to about 3 p.m. They assist disabled veterans from various pickup points and stay with them until after all doctor appointments.

``Our drivers are getting older and we try not to put them on the road,'' she said. ``We want to train new drivers to carry on the tradition.''

For more information on the program, call Laney at [phone], Ext. 9408.

Angie Valencia, [phone]

angie.valencia(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Volunteer driver Bob Laney gives veteran Lou Adler and his wife, Isabel, a ride to the Sepulveda VA Hospital on Thursday.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer