Nancy Ingalls holds a copy of the June 18, 1985, issue of the Union Leader, which carried a front-page story about the hijacking of a TWA flight on which her late husband, Jeff, was a passenger.
Nancy Ingalls holds a copy of the June 18, 1985, issue of the Union Leader, which carried a front-page story about the hijacking of a TWA flight on which her late husband, Jeff, was a passenger.
When Jeff Ingalls returned to his hometown of Woodstock following the hijacking of his flight and torture by the terrorist group Hezbollah in 1985, he wanted to help his fellow veterans ease their pain with a cup of coffee and conversation.
Ingalls, who died unexpectedly in 2020 at age 59, realized there were many unmet needs of veterans in the immediate area, and his vision expanded to encompass a larger mission although the name of the effort remained the same.
Now, the Vet’s Rest Stop, through the efforts of volunteers including his widow Nancy, is nearing completion of four single-person and two family homes on a six-acre parcel located on Route 175.
Working twice a month, the volunteers are approaching occupancy for the Vet’s Rest Stop next spring, said Kelly Philbrick, a longtime friend, who served in the Air Force as an inflight refueling boom operator aboard a KC-135 tanker.
What Ingalls had originally wanted to do, said Philbrick, the president of VRS, was build a place where veterans could drop in for some java and the chance to talk with another veteran who, because he or she had served in the military, knew what other soldiers, sailors, Marines or airmen had experienced.
Ingalls began what would be his 20-year career in the Navy immediately after graduating from the Lin-Wood Public School in 1978.
On June 14, 1985, while taking off from Athens, Greece, TWA Flight 847, which was bound for Rome, was hijacked by two Hezbollah terrorists.
The terrorists learned that among the passengers were a team of Navy divers, Ingalls among them. They shot and killed one diver — Robert Stethem of Waldorf, Maryland — but 17 days later, released all of their hostages.
Nancy Ingalls said her husband returned from that experience a changed man. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury.
Ingalls built a prosperous construction company in Woodstock and was involved in numerous civic endeavors, said Nancy Ingalls, but he never got past the trauma of the hijacking nor the murder of Stethem.
Her husband sought treatment for his anxiety, she said, but he was never “off-guard.”
In time, Nancy said Ingalls came up with the idea for the Vet’s Rest Stop, but came to realize more was required to help veterans.
Ingalls met a fellow vet, Alvin Lee, who helped him see the possibilities of a larger venue with a variety of services, and Lee later sold the land for the Vet’s Rest Stop at a discount.
Apart from that purchase, “pretty much everything else is donated,” said Nancy Ingalls.
Ken Mack, Vet’s Rest Stop vice president and a former helicopter mechanic in the Marine Corps, said the person who inspected the water supply recommended the best way to install the water system and where to locate the six residences and the “community house.”
Next, architect Stuart Anderson came by with free plans for the four 576-square-foot houses and two 832-square-foot houses.
The owner of a crane company lent the project a crane that was used to put roofs on four houses so far, and the volunteers have never stopped coming, said Nancy Ingalls, including most recently a group that traveled all the way from Connecticut.
On a recent Saturday, Mark Sellingham, who describes himself as “just a local who wants to help veterans,” was installing studs in one of the houses.
A friend of Jeff Ingalls, Sellingham wished Ingalls had been there. “We would have loved to have him here,” he said.
Founded in 2016, Vet’s Rest Stop is, according to its website, a nonprofit established for the purpose of “assisting veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who are in need of counseling and mentoring due to facing issues, such as addictions, underemployment, medical issues, homelessness, domestic relations issues, personal issues and the like.”
The organization is independent of financial aid from the state and federal governments and is supported by donations, mostly of in-kind material and services.
“These are solid homes. They’re well done,” Nancy Ingalls said. “I know Jeff would be just mind-blown. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.”
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