“He said “Harry, if you can find someone that would really appreciate it- why don’t you take it and give it to them?’ And my wife said ‘what a better time to give it to Travis than today, Vietnam Veterans” Day?'” You deserve the health care, benefits and educational opportunities that you’ve earned and that befit your service to our nation.
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“When I came back there were a lot of issues at the airport”, said Dale Eslinger of Minooka, who was a mechanic for the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
Despite many approaching their seventieth birthday veterans still remember being treated with disrespect when they came home.
The veterans were honored during a floor presentation at the state Capitol and recognized for their service in the Vietnam war.
The Welcome Home, Southwest Florida celebration to honor Vietnam veterans was a partnership between Community Foundation of Sarasota County, Manatee County Foundation and Tidewell Hospice. Cepeda said he knows that his father would have been overjoyed if he were alive to witness the commemoration ceremony. Harmon, who spent more than 30 years in the military, said those who served in Vietnam receive more recognition now than they did in the past.
The Milwaukee VA held a ceremony on Thursday to recognize veterans in Milwaukee. The Vietnam War was a “fairly long occasion” and it feels like the war’s 50th anniversary has been celebrated for a number of years, he said.
But March 29th is a date that Vietnam War veterans will remember forever. “This is just one way of repaying them and recognizing them”, said Ken Kackley with Lebanon VFW Post 5015.
Barnes said many veterans who experienced the Vietnam conflict firsthand are moved by the ceremony.
That date, March 29, is designated as Vietnam War Veterans Day, and Thursday marked the 45th anniversary of when the last USA troops vacated South Vietnam soils.
The objective of the war still brews controversy but there is no contention veterans put their lives at risk for their country and some of their friends never came home because of it.
Both Clark and Cuttill believe it’s important to make sure those who have served, live in the hearts and minds of Americans.
“I wouldn’t even want to go through that again, that whole thing”, he said of the Vietnam War.
When he went to Vietnam, Wallace said he couldn’t wait to get over there and serve his country.
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There were about 58-thousand American casualties in Vietnam.
