Finding Solace With Canvas, Paint And A Scholarship Honoring A Fallen Soldier

John Melillo has been a lot of things in his life—but one thing he’s never been is afraid of hard work.

Filled with an entrepreneurial spirit and loads of energy, throughout the course of his long career he founded several companies in fields as diverse as marketing, printing, entertainment and real estate.

But after “retiring” in 2015, this Eastport resident and Vietnam War veteran suddenly found that issues dating back to his days in the military had resurfaced to haunt him.

“After working for all those years, I stopped and was having problems with PTSD,” said Mr. Melillo during an interview in Southampton. “I have Agent Orange, and when I stopped working, I needed sleeping medication.”

But after repeated visits to doctors at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a series of prescriptions didn’t help, Mr. Melillo began to search for alternatives to medication.

“In the process, I discovered art,” he said. “As a medium, it really helped me. I buried myself in art, and it was very soothing.”

Like his business career, you could say that Mr. Melillo—who spent his childhood summers in Sagaponack with relatives who owned the Sagaponack General Store—is prolific as an artist. His portfolio includes portraits and still lifes, though he says his favorite medium is oil and his favorite subjects are landscapes. Currently, Mr. Melillo is honing those skills at the Art League of Long Island in Dix Hills, where he’s enrolled in a seven-week course in seascapes and coastal landscape painting taught by Howard Rose.

The course was offered to Mr. Melillo free of charge, thanks to the newly instituted Lieutenant Colonel Joseph J. Fenty Jr. Art Scholarship for Veterans. Mr. Melillo is the first recipient of the scholarship, funded by the Woodbury-based law firm of Salenger, Sack, Kimmel, and Bavaro LLP, which provides a combat veteran a semester of art instruction at the Art League of Long Island and is named for the late son of Charlee Miller, a Gold Star mother and executive director of the Art League.

“When Joe Bavaro, an attorney at the law firm, was our board member and learned about my son, he said he would like to start a scholarship in Joe’s memory,” recalled Ms. Miller in a recent phone interview. “John is the first person to receive it. He is very excited about art and had taken some classes here already.”

Ms. Miller’s son, Lt. Col. Fenty, was an airborne ranger and commander of the 3rd Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division. He was killed on May 5, 2006, along with nine other soldiers, when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed during combat operations in the Kunar province in Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Fenty was 41 years old and left behind his wife, Kristin, and their infant daughter, Lauren Olivia.

“He and his wife were married 19 years,” Ms. Miller said. “His daughter was 28 days old when he was killed. He never saw her.”

With the scholarship, Ms. Miller notes that Mr. Bavaro is providing a way to not only honor her son’s memory but to help returning veterans cope with the residual effects of serving in combat—whether in a recent conflict like Afghanistan or one dating back decades.

Though his transition came nearly half a century ago, Mr. Melillo’s case shows that the emotional trauma from war can linger, recede and return, even after a long and successful career in business.

A 1969 graduate of Cornell University, Mr. Melillo was drafted in 1970 and was stationed in Long Binh, the largest military installation in Vietnam at that time.

“Vietnam was a learning experience. I’m using it as a positive,” he said. “I was assigned to a Combat Military Police Unit. We had two miles of barbed wire surrounding a section of jungle, and that’s your base. We had 12 guys on gates, 12 on patrol and two dog units, guarding 26,000 troops.”

“I found out a lot about myself in extreme, horrible situations,” Mr. Melillo added. “I saw many things that were life threatening, where you thought you were going to die, then someone takes them out before they get you. You learn a lot about yourself in extreme situations, and people react differently.

“We all have our Vietnams,” he said. “Everyone has extreme situations or problems they face. Maybe the physical gravity is not there, but you either make something out of it or you don’t.”

For Mr. Melillo, making art has been the key to recovery. In recent years, in addition to the Art League of Long Island, he has taken art courses at Suffolk County Community College, the Southampton Cultural Center, and in New York City at the School of Visual Arts and the New York Academy of Art. Among his works are oil paintings based on photographs he took while serving in Vietnam.

“Art is a humbling experience, and there’s always somebody better,” he said. “I’m not here to conquer the world. It’s very satisfying, and I’m inspired by Charlee and the law group just as much as my own passion in art. Their passion reignited my passion.”

“After 40 years, I ran so hard to get away from it, I developed sleep problems. Now, I sleep through and can relax. The Art League, Southampton Cultural Center—all these people have given me the opportunity. They’re very kind,” Mr. Melillo added. “Painting is really such a therapeutic activity. It lifts you up.”

But learning to be an artist is just part of the equation. He is also approaching art as an entrepreneur.

“I thought, let me market myself as an artist and see if I can create another career. I’m still toying with how artists think and act,” said Mr. Melillo, who has taken courses at Sotheby’s and Christie’s in New York City, where he earned an art business certificate to gain knowledge of the marketing aspects of art. “I’m learning from the business and the art side. … I wanted to do both and see what the possibilities were.”

Though Mr. Bavaro is no longer on the board of the Art League of Long Island, Ms. Miller stressed that the scholarship he created in her son’s name will continue to be offered every semester at the Art League through his law firm.

“It’s something he wants to continue,” she said. “He realizes the benefit of art in recovering and returning from war and the transition our soldiers have to make.

“We want to keep all of our soldiers in our memories and honor them,” Ms. Miller added. “Art is this peaceful place where you can go. It shuts out all the noise. Scholarship recipients don’t have to have any art experience. We’d be delighted to have more veterans apply.”

The Lt. Colonel Joseph J. Fenty Jr. Art Scholarship for Veterans is awarded directly through Salenger, Sack, Kimmel & Bavaro, LLP. For more information, visit sskblaw.com or call the law firm at 516-677-0100.

The Art League of Long Island offers free memberships to veterans and has a second scholarship available from a private donor offering a similar scholarship for a returning combat veteran. Learn more at artleagueli.org.