thedrifter
09-29-09, 08:29 AM
Vietnam vets hail signing of Welcome Home Day
By Kurt Schauppner
Twentynine Palms Correspondent
Published: Saturday, September 26, 2009 2:17 AM CDT
MCAGCC — In front of Vietnam veterans and active-duty Marines, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday signed into law an assembly bill calling for March 30 of every year to be known as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in California. The ceremony was held in the late morning and early afternoon at Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Gray Field at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.
One of the Vietnam veterans in attendance was Andy Grow, who served in the Navy from 1961 to 1970 and served in Vietnam in 1963 and 1965
“We didn’t get a very nice welcome when we came home and we were pretty angry about it,” he said. “All we were doing was trying to liberate those people from communists and we were the bad guys.”
Creation of Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran Day, the Desert Hot Springs resident believes, acknowledges that they were not the bad guys.
“If they have parades, I will go to the parades and celebrate that we made it.”
Vietnam veteran Peter Delacruz spent eight and a half years in the Army, including two years in Vietnam, where he served in the Iron Triangle. He lives in Twentynine Palms and said he hoped more could be done for the nation’s veterans.
Michael Sabol of Joshua Tree served the nation in Korea during the Vietnam era.
He called the recognition long overdue — “about 40 years too late.”
He added, however, that he was glad to see the day approved.
“Obviously there is an excitement in the air,” Assemblyman Paul Cook, who represents the Morongo Basin and who authored the bill, said before the start of the ceremony.
“This is not about my bill or me, this is about the veterans,” he said. “A lot of Vietnam veterans had trouble assimilating back into society.
“We’ve got a huge crowd, more people than I expected. It’s just a tribute to the fact that this issue is so important.”
During his remarks, Schwarzenegger joked that he knew the combat center was the most elite Marine base in the world, but he did not know it was also the hottest.
“There is no other place I would rather be,” he said, explaining that creation of the special day represented “what should have been said a long time ago: Welcome home.”
He closed by quoting his hero, Ronald Reagan, who said, “America is the land of the free only because we are the home of the brave.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Cook told those assembled, including his fellow Vietnam veterans. “We were forgotten. We were spit upon.
“We don’t forget the nightmares. We don’t forget the trauma,” he said.
Jose Ramos, who led the fight to establish a day for Vietnam veterans, pledged to take his fight national.
“There was a mistake made, 30 years, 40 years ago,” he said. “The veterans serving today, this will never happen to you.”
He spoke of his admiration for the people serving today, those who walked in on their own and enlisted rather than being drafted.
“I love you and I admire you, all the young warriors,” he said.
Actor John Voight was at the ceremony and apologized for his anti-Vietnam War activities.
“This is a big day for me, a big deal,” said Voight, who has advocated for a day in honor of Vietnam veterans.
“I regrettably was part of a rebellion against that war,” he said. “We could have won the war. We anti-war activists were wrong.
“But we have learned many lessons,” he said. “And we ask forgiveness from all the veterans who gave their lives and their limbs.”
Standing in the audience, Yucca Valley Vietnam veteran Eddie Bates said he felt Voight’s apology was sincere.
“This day stands on its own,” said Robert W. Johnston, president of the California State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America.
“It is because it stands on its own that it means what it does,” he said.
“We are going to make sure it never happens again,” he said of the treatment received by veterans when they came home from the Vietnam war.
“Never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another.”
Ellie
By Kurt Schauppner
Twentynine Palms Correspondent
Published: Saturday, September 26, 2009 2:17 AM CDT
MCAGCC — In front of Vietnam veterans and active-duty Marines, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday signed into law an assembly bill calling for March 30 of every year to be known as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in California. The ceremony was held in the late morning and early afternoon at Lance Cpl. Torrey L. Gray Field at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center.
One of the Vietnam veterans in attendance was Andy Grow, who served in the Navy from 1961 to 1970 and served in Vietnam in 1963 and 1965
“We didn’t get a very nice welcome when we came home and we were pretty angry about it,” he said. “All we were doing was trying to liberate those people from communists and we were the bad guys.”
Creation of Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran Day, the Desert Hot Springs resident believes, acknowledges that they were not the bad guys.
“If they have parades, I will go to the parades and celebrate that we made it.”
Vietnam veteran Peter Delacruz spent eight and a half years in the Army, including two years in Vietnam, where he served in the Iron Triangle. He lives in Twentynine Palms and said he hoped more could be done for the nation’s veterans.
Michael Sabol of Joshua Tree served the nation in Korea during the Vietnam era.
He called the recognition long overdue — “about 40 years too late.”
He added, however, that he was glad to see the day approved.
“Obviously there is an excitement in the air,” Assemblyman Paul Cook, who represents the Morongo Basin and who authored the bill, said before the start of the ceremony.
“This is not about my bill or me, this is about the veterans,” he said. “A lot of Vietnam veterans had trouble assimilating back into society.
“We’ve got a huge crowd, more people than I expected. It’s just a tribute to the fact that this issue is so important.”
During his remarks, Schwarzenegger joked that he knew the combat center was the most elite Marine base in the world, but he did not know it was also the hottest.
“There is no other place I would rather be,” he said, explaining that creation of the special day represented “what should have been said a long time ago: Welcome home.”
He closed by quoting his hero, Ronald Reagan, who said, “America is the land of the free only because we are the home of the brave.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” Cook told those assembled, including his fellow Vietnam veterans. “We were forgotten. We were spit upon.
“We don’t forget the nightmares. We don’t forget the trauma,” he said.
Jose Ramos, who led the fight to establish a day for Vietnam veterans, pledged to take his fight national.
“There was a mistake made, 30 years, 40 years ago,” he said. “The veterans serving today, this will never happen to you.”
He spoke of his admiration for the people serving today, those who walked in on their own and enlisted rather than being drafted.
“I love you and I admire you, all the young warriors,” he said.
Actor John Voight was at the ceremony and apologized for his anti-Vietnam War activities.
“This is a big day for me, a big deal,” said Voight, who has advocated for a day in honor of Vietnam veterans.
“I regrettably was part of a rebellion against that war,” he said. “We could have won the war. We anti-war activists were wrong.
“But we have learned many lessons,” he said. “And we ask forgiveness from all the veterans who gave their lives and their limbs.”
Standing in the audience, Yucca Valley Vietnam veteran Eddie Bates said he felt Voight’s apology was sincere.
“This day stands on its own,” said Robert W. Johnston, president of the California State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America.
“It is because it stands on its own that it means what it does,” he said.
“We are going to make sure it never happens again,” he said of the treatment received by veterans when they came home from the Vietnam war.
“Never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another.”
Ellie