![]() ![]() ![]() There was also much comment on the lack of an official ticker tape welcome home parade for the veterans, though there was a series of parades organized locally across the country with an overriding "Welcome Home" theme to recognize Vietnam veterans who did their duty in a war that much of the nation had turned against. You served in divided times and too often you were blamed or scorned for serving your country."Īs always, when the subject is the Vietnam War, there were differences of opinion during panel discussions on the what-ifs in terms of strategy and tactics that might have changed the outcome of the war. Regrettably, that has not always been the case. In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, representing the Defense Department, said that Vietnam veterans deserve "our thanks, our respect and our steadfast support. Thompson, a former staff sergeant who served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Vietnam, said in a phone interview, "I think it's important to recognize the service of those of us" who went to Vietnam, adding that the commemoration offered an opportunity for the public "to get a better understanding of what soldiers did" in the war. "It's just as important to recognize those families" of service members who went to Vietnam. In a phone interview, Baird, who served with the 523rd Transportation Company and was awarded a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, said, "From my standpoint, it's not only those who served" in Vietnam who should be honored. Jim Baird, R-Ind., a former Army lieutenant who lost his left arm in a 1971 convoy ambush in Vietnam, said he believed there are only two other remaining Vietnam veterans serving in the House - Rep. We're here to do what should have been done 50 years ago," said Carper, who is the last Vietnam veteran serving in the Senate. Tom Carper, D-Del., a naval flight officer who served three tours in Vietnam aboard a P-3 Orion surveillance aircraft. Russell Stephenson, a B-52 Stratofortress pilot, said his greatest fear did not come from the enemy's surface-to-air missiles but rather from the concern that his aircraft's load of "dumb" bombs would devastate friendly forces below on missions in 1968 to help lift the siege by the North Vietnamese of the Marine base at Khe Sanh, about six miles from the Laotian border in the northwestern sector of South Vietnam known as I Corps.Īs he would make his approach, Marine spotters on the ground would keep pressing him to come in "closer, closer," Stephenson told on the first day of the commemoration that began with a fly-by of four vintage UH-1 "Huey" helicopter, the workhorse rotary aircraft of the war, and remarks by a range of officials. ![]() The events also offered veterans a chance to renew old friendships and reflect on what they saw and did during their tours, and how they coped with the near-constant pressure of what was often described as a 360-degree war in which traditional front lines were only a sometimes thing. The site for the events on the mall off Independence Avenue was dubbed "Camp Legacy" and featured a static display of Vietnam-era helicopters, panel discussions on veterans issues, military band concerts, drill team performances, and exhibits on a range of topics from military dogs to the CIA's efforts in Vietnam. involvement probably prevented more aggression by the North Vietnamese in Southeast Asia. "Am I glad I went to Vietnam - absolutely," Nicholson said, adding that he believed the U.S. "There might have been a better word," said Nicholson, but he agreed with Braaten that the wording should not detract from the main purpose of the events on the National Mall, which was to honor veterans. Brock Nicholson, a flight platoon leader with the 48th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam, said of the celebration term. "That is a curious word" to be used in the context of the Vietnam war, former Army Capt. It didn't happen to him, Braaten said, but he had friends who served in Vietnam who were "spit on and called 'babykiller'" when they returned to the States. Tom Braaten, who flew CH-46 helicopters out of Marble Mountain near Da Nang in Vietnam in 1969-70, said the "Welcome Home Celebration" promotional material "wasn't worded terribly well," but the tribute to Vietnam veterans was long overdue. ![]() "It's about celebrating service that's what the whole commemoration is about," Maxner said, but some of the veterans at the events said that the organizers could have made a better choice of words. "It's not a celebration of war, it's a celebration of veterans' service," said Steve Maxner, director of the Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech University. ![]()
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