Friends Tom Bennett and Dr. Robert Tankard, veterans and advocates for veterans’ rights, were selected as the recipients of Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation’s (MVCF) 43rd Creative Living Award.
The award, created by Islander Ruth Bedding to honor Oak Bluffs resident Ruth Bogan in 1983, recognizes people “whose leadership, artistic vision, innovation, generosity, or community service help make Martha’s Vineyard a more vibrant and caring place to live,” a press release from MVCF stated.
The duo are being recognized for their years of service on the Island, particularly to the local veterans’ community. Bennett and Tankard will be celebrated on a date that will be announced in the future.
“Tom and Bob have made such a strong impact on our community, both individually and together,” Paul Schulz, executive director of Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, said in the release. “They embody the principles of the Creative Living Award, and we are honored to celebrate their achievements.”
The release gave an introduction for the two men. Bennett served Martha’s Vineyard Community Services for years as the associate executive director and senior clinical advisor for the nonprofit’s Island Counseling Center. He is currently director of veteran services, but has served in various other roles over the years, such as leader of its youth center and Daybreak programs. Bennett grew up on Chappaquiddick before moving to Edgartown. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1965 and served as a medic, “supporting soldiers who were wounded in and returning from the Vietnam War.” He returned to the Vineyard in 1969 and resumed work with local youth, coaching baseball for 16 years, and became one of the first two graduates of Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) to be elected to the school committee. He used the GI Bill to earn his graduate degree from Antioch College. In 1984, Bennett joined fellow Islander U.S. Marine veteran Woody Williams’ “grassroots veterans group that counseled returning war veterans,” which was established into a program supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in 1986. Although this program lost federal funding last year, fundraising efforts preserved it, and Bennett continues to lead it.
Tankard is the Martha’s Vineyard veterans’ outreach advocate. He is known to many as “Coach,” “Tank,” or simply “Bob,” and he has served in various roles on the Island. He was the principal of the West Tisbury School, co-founded the Martha’s Vineyard Diversity Coalition, and has been a member of chair of various boards, including of Martha’s Vineyard Community Television, where he hosts the popular show “Tank Talk,” and on school committees. Tankard served in the U.S. Army in Korea. He obtained a doctoral degree from Fielding Graduate University, a master’s from the former Bridgewater State College, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts. He also has a certificate of leadership from the Principals’ Center at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
The release noted Bennett and Tankard’s partnership extends “far beyond the work they do in the Island-wide community of veterans.” They’re also lifelong friends who played football together at MVRHS, where they graduated as a part of the class of 1964. After graduation, they joined the military “under a time of significant social, political, and racial pressure.”
“While their lifelong contributions to the community are too numerous to list, their most recent foray into housing for veterans is noteworthy. Their tireless advocacy and fundraising on behalf of Island veterans has resulted in a soon-to-be-constructed building [on Bellevue Ave.] in Oak Bluffs, with 12 apartments designed specifically for veterans,” the release states.
