“It’s long overdue, but welcome home.”
Led by keynote speaker Kevin O’Neill, friends, family and community members came together last week to honor veterans of U.S. military branches, who set aside their good-natured rivalries to come together and receive Department of Defense Vietnam lapel pins designed to recognize, thank and honor all U.S. Vietnam veterans.
The event, a National Vietnam War Veterans Day Ceremony hosted by the Michael Trebert Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and Sequim VFW Post 4760 Henry C. Echternkamp at the VFW Post at 169 E. Washington St., saw more than 75 fill the Post, as veterans delivered heartfelt messages about their service and to one another.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Vietnam War veteran Donald Pitkin, who served in the U.S. Army in 1968 and 1969, receives a commemorative pin and thanks from Junior American Eagles Donnie (8) and Henry (10) Fors at a ceremony honoring veterans on March 27.
Following an invocation by Nancy Zimmerman, O’Neill — who served with the U.S. Air Force 65th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and is VFW Post 4760’s Senior Vice Commander — offered his thoughts to Vietnam War veterans in his keynote address.
“We took the fight to the enemy. We deployed as a unit. But unfortunately, when we came back we came back because our duty was up or we were injured. You didn’t have that support,” O’Neill said.
“We found out that the United States didn’t see the same things we saw. They tried to ridicule us, spit on us — I had a lot of buddies that happened to.”
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / Junior American Eagles Donnie (8) and Henry (10) Fors lead the Pledge of Allegiance at a ceremony honoring Vietnam War veterans at the Sequim VFW on March 27.
O’Neill urged Vietnam War veterans to band together and keep tabs on one another. One way he does it is simply by asking “Are you OK?” and either getting one of two response: “Yes, I’m fine” or “I’ve been better.”
“What do you need so that the next time I ask you the question, you’re going to say, ‘I’m OK’?,” O’Neill said.
“We grew up in a generation where you were taught to be strong — you didn’t cry you shook it off, whatever it took, because we’re strong,” he said. “Our families, when we came back, believed we were strong. Why? Because we faced the enemy, we survived and we came back from our deployment.”
O’Neill added that many family members of veterans sacrificed a great deal, and “for that they have my undying gratitude.”
Members of the Michael Trebert DAR chapter also heard from surviving spouses of Vietnam War veterans who have since passed.
Prior to helping hand out pins to fellow veterans, Bill Strehle of VFW Post 4760
The Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pin is available to living U.S. veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time during the period of Nov. 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975, regardless of location. The symbols on the pin include an eagle (representing courage, honor and dedicated service to the nation), a blue circle (signifying vigilance, perseverance and justice), a laurel wreath (representing honor and victory), stripes (representing the American flag) and six stars, representing the six allies who served sacrificed alongside one another: the commonwealth of Australia, the Kingdom of Thailand, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and the Republic of the Philippines. A message reading “A Grateful Nation Thanks and Honors You” is embossed on the back.
For more about Vietnam War commemorations, visit vietnamwar50th.com.
gave an overview of the Vietnam War and the discouraging reaction from the American people that followed those who served.
“Veterans were welcomed home by family and close friends but not by the general public,” Strehle said.
Movies and television shows in the proceeding years painted a portrait of Vietnam War veterans as “broken and homeless,” he said.
“They weren’t factual,” he said, “and didn’t help the reputation of the military. It made the military seem like a joke. It definitely wasn’t a joke.”
Dozens of veterans received lapel pins from DAR members and Junior American Eagles, 10-year-old Henry Fors and 8-year-old Donnie Fors.
Those gathered in the VFW hall also got a rousing version of the sea shanty “Bell Bottom Trousers” from Richard Hazelton, a 99-year-old World War II U.S. Navy veteran who served aboard the USS Yorktown.
Veterans also received thanks from Holly Rowan, president of the Clallam County Veterans Association, and in closing remarks from Neil Gamroth of VFW Post 4760.
Sequim Gazette photo by Michael Dashiell / World War II veteran Richard Hazelton, 99, sings “Bell Bottom Trousers” at a March 27 ceremony in Sequim honoring Vietnam War veterans.
