Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day>>>Vietnam vets honored by Cheyenne DAR chapter members

"It’s time that people and their families are recognized for their services"” said Donna Warren, regent of the Cheyenne DAR.

The country didn’t treat Vietnam veterans as good as they should have when they came home, she said.

"I was touched when I came here this morning,” Cheyenne City Councilman Jim Brown said. The row of flags “had a great deal of meaning to me"”

Brown served in the Army for two tours in Vietnam from 1969-70. He was an Army combat engineer and also a welder for the battalion.

Continue Learning:  http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2014/03/30/news/01top_03-30-14.txt#.Uzi4R6LNFRw

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day from Agent Orange Legacy by Sharon L. Perry, Founder and Dee Reyes, Co-founder

Welcome Vietnam Veterans Day

See story on SALEM NEWS at this link>>>http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march292014/viet-vet-day-sp-dr.php

Today I Welcome Home my husband, Reuben 'Bud' Charles Perry, III, because he didn't live to see it (Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day) for himself.

Bud Perry aboard U.S.S. Dynamic MSO 432

I also Welcome Home all Vietnam veterans who came home and those whom have died from exposure to Agent Orange or physical & emotional wounds as a result of their service in Vietnam & to their country.



WELCOME HOME...I know what you went through.  I know how you were all cut so deep.  I know that our country abandoned you, all of you.  I know cause I lived it with my husband of 27 years.

I watched him struggle to lead a normal life but it was always just out of reach.  I watched him fall victim to nightmares and shadows which haunted him for the rest of his life.  I helped him when he fell to the ground in a heap while having severe flashbacks.  I witnessed his despair and fear when he would shrink into a corner or hid under the desk. 

Our family lived a virtual roller coaster of highs and lows depending upon what triggered his suffering.  We survived but he did not.

AOVVM online memorial honoring our veterans and their children lost to Agent Orange at this link>>>https://www.facebook.com/aovvm

Anti-Vietnam War protest sign, c. 1973

Whether you supported the war effort or not...these veterans absorbed the trauma from the battlefield on your behalf, America.  The families, including my family have, and some continue to, serve(d) as a buffer.  The veterans' family provides a buffer between the trauma the soldier experienced and the rest of the country.  You, America have enjoyed the benefits and abandoned these veterans in their hour of need.

Agent Orange Legacy

Now many of their children and grandchildren, not only suffer from secondary PTSD, they struggle to live normal lives.  Many are born with birth defects, suffer from chronic illnesses including autoimmune and rare diseases,  Because of their birth defects and illnesses they live at or below the poverty line.  Here in America, supposedly the richest country in the world, children of veterans and in some cases their grandchildren, live in poverty.

FLASHBACKS

FLASHBACKS by Danielle Reyes
I see that faraway thousand mile stare in your eyes, the craziness that lies within.
I want to run, I want to hide, I'm scared for my life.
In the blink of an eye, the person I know is gone, you scream, you cry.
You get angry and at the moment I don't know why.
I don't understand, I cannot comprehend, the tormented hell that you have been in.
For I am only a child.
"WHERE ARE MY GUNS!" you scream.
You cannot find them, I try not to blink an eye, so you will not suspect, I took them; to protect us all, to save your life.
The relentless search continues, then you realize I took them.
You turn to me filled with this rage that is now directed at me.
The interrogation begins to no avail.
I will not give in, you've not broken me, I am already broken.
I shut down, terrified, I want to cry, at moments I wish I would die.
I can not endure another moment in this hell, this horror that I was born into.
This is my existence, this is my hell.

By Danielle Reyes, daughter of Vietnam veteran, Reuben 'Bud' Charles Perry, III and co-founder of Agent Orange Legacy.
copyright 2008

America, you failed these veterans once, now's your chance.  Don't fail them a second time.  Please take a moment and TAKE ACTION now.  

Help our veterans children and grandchildren suffering from their veteran parent(s) military exposure(s) which include Agent Orange, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

1) IMMEDIATE RELEASE: VVA to Pull Out All Stops to Enact New Toxic Exposure Legislation 

• http://www.agentorangelegacy.blogspot.com/2013/11/immediate-release-vva-to-pull-out-all.html  

   “Tragically, these wounds may be passed on genetically to the progeny of our nation’s warriors, as we are well acquainted with having been exposed to Agent Orange.”

  “Therefore we welcome the introduction of S.1602, the Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2013, which has just been introduced by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).  This legislation would establish within the Department of Veterans Affairs a national center for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of the health conditions of the progeny of veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service in the Armed Forces, and to provide diagnostic treatment and care to them,” said John Rowan, National President of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA)

   

2) BDRC ‘Children Center’ PETITION SIGN THE PETITION AND LEARN MORE AT THIS LINK

• http://agentorangelegacy.blogspot.com/2013/05/children-center-petition.html

This is a petition for the proposal for a center to provide diagnosis and treatment of veteran's children with structural and/or functional disabilities.

     

I'm sorry that our country was not there for my husband and all the other Vietnam veterans.  I pray that this will never happen to our veterans ever again.  I wish my husband could be here to witness the outpouring of love and respect our Vietnam veterans enjoy today.

Today, America you have a chance to honor our Vietnam veterans by contacting your legislator and support:

• S.1602, the Toxic Exposure Research and Military Family Support Act of 2013 at this direct link>>>http://capwiz.com/vva/home/ 

• Honor a Vietnam veteran by signing the above petition at this direct link>>>https://www.causes.com/action/1694553-support-care-and-medical-treatment-for-the-  children-of-vietnam-veterans

Thank you Vietnam Veterans for your service and sacrifice.  Remember our fallen, always and forever, for they have paid the ultimate price.

Agent Orange Legacy is advocating for the services, support and rights for the children of Vietnam veterans exposed to Agent Orange and their families.

AGENT ORANGE LEGACY HANDOUT by Agent Orange Legacy

Where to find us online:

• Facebook Page at this link>>>https://www.facebook.com/agentorangelegacy

• Online Support Group at this link>>>  https://www.facebook.com/groups/aolivingwithagentorange/

• Online Memorial>>>Agent Orange Vietnam Veterans Memorial at this link>>> https://www.facebook.com/groups/aolivingwithagentorange/

(c) Agent Orange Legacy

Capitol monument honoring Texas Vietnam veterans ceremony set

AUSTIN Forty-one years to the day after the last American combat troops left Vietnam and nine years after the effort began, the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument will be dedicated in a 10:00 a.m. ceremony Saturday, March 29th at the Texas State Capitol. Governor Rick Perry is expected to accept the monument on behalf of the state. The event is free and open to the public.

The ceremony will include the participation of veterans, family members, active-duty military, Texas school children and elected officials. The monument honoring all Texans who served in Vietnam will be unveiled and a special tribute will be made to the 3,417 Texans who died or are unaccounted for in Vietnam. A “Welcome Home Fair” including Vietnam War equipment displays and an exhibition of 3,417 personalized dog tags remembering Texas’ Vietnam War lost will take place in and around the Capitol.

Continue Learning:  http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/pasadena/living/capitol-monument-honoring-texas-vietnam-veterans-ceremony-set/article_656528bb-ea90-58ed-96ee-8316e7907a65.html

Vietnam vets get second homecoming at Port Orange celebration

The Holly Hill resident died in 2012 after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, but on Saturday he will be honored along with all area Vietnam veterans during a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day celebration in Port Orange. The event starts with a parade at 10 a.m. at the Port Orange Pavilion and is followed by speakers, a flyover and entertainment and food at the John E. Mealy Memorial VFW Post at 5810 S. Williamson Blvd. Speakers include Volusia County Councilman Jason Davis, Volusia County Director of Veterans' Service Mike White and State Senator Dorothy Hukill.

Continue Learning:  http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20140326/NEWS/140329579/1040?Title=Vietnam-vets-get-second-homecoming-at-Port-Orange-celebration

Vietnam Veterans Day observance March 29 in St. Peter

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day

The Vietnam War Era Last Man Club, St. Peter, will observe Vietnam Veterans Day at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 29 at the St. Peter Community Center gymnasium.

On January 12, 1962, United States Army pilots lifted more than 1,000 South Vietnamese service members over jungle and underbrush to capture a National Liberation Front stronghold near Saigon. The last of the United States troops left.

Continue Learning:http://www.southernminn.com/st_peter_herald/community/article_ce936db4-1e68-5df1-bdc8-30d991a9c95d.html

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day

Vietnam Veterans Day is two days, March 29 & March 30 (they more than deserve two! and it has been proclaimed by a Senator and the President)

If you know a Vietnam Vet, please let them know from all of us how very much we appreciate all that they did and sacrificed.

Please see the proclamations by BOTH parties below

Sen. Richard Burr, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced the resolution, calling it “a day to give our Vietnam veterans a warm, long-overdue welcome home.”

For full Resolution: http://www.pva.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=ajIRK9NJLcJ2E&b=6350111&ct=11677801

and then a year later:

VIETNAM VETERANS DAY
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

On January 12, 1962, United States Army pilots lifted more than 1,000 South Vietnamese service members over jungle and underbrush to capture a National Liberation Front stronghold near Saigon. Operation Chopper marked America's first combat mission against the Viet Cong, and the beginning of one of our longest and most challenging wars. Through more than a decade of conflict that tested the fabric of our Nation, the service of our men and women in uniform stood true. Fifty years after that fateful mission, we honor the more than 3 million Americans who served, we pay tribute to those we have laid to rest, and we reaffirm our dedication to showing a generation of veterans the respect and support of a grateful Nation...

...we pay tribute to the fallen, the missing, the wounded, the millions who served, and the millions more who awaited their return. Our Nation stands stronger for their service, and on Vietnam Veterans Day, we honor their proud legacy with our deepest gratitude.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 29, 2012, as Vietnam Veterans Day. I call upon all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that commemorate the 50 year anniversary of the Vietnam War.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA

For full Proclamation:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/03/29/presidential-proclamation-vietnam-veterans-day

God bless, protect and lead our troops

Open house March 29 in Portage for Vietnam Veterans Day

"I said about two words to my parents and that was it. They shut it down"” said Dennis Benson, who served in the Army from 1969 to 1970.

However, as the veterans age and the public perception shifts, more people do want to know.

For the second time, the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1707 will recognize Vietnam Veterans Day on March 29. The open house is from noon to 5 p.m., and free for the public, at the VFW hall at 215 W. Collins St. in Portage. All Vietnam War veterans are welcome to attend and bring memorabilia to have on display.

Continue Learning:  http://www.wiscnews.com/portagedailyregister/news/local/article_6b6519bf-7b88-5f01-a559-94db07cf8ecb.html

Finally Home: Parade to welcome Vietnam veterans '37 years late'

When he arrived in Vietnam, he was scared. He’d watched the war on TV. But the military learned he could type, so he became an Army company clerk, assured some level of safety.

He was restless, not cut out for clerking, so the 158th Aviation Battalion commanders agreed to make him a helicopter door gunner for missions north to the demilitarized zone.

"I was a kid. I was from Iowa. I felt like it was what I was supposed to do"” he said.

Continue Learning:   http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130921/CAROUSEL/309220040/Finally-Home-Parade-to-welcome-Vietnam-veterans-37-years-late-?Frontpage

Australia Vietnam Veterans Day: Vietnam veterans remembered

“After the Welcome Home March in Sydney in October 1987, the Federal Government, under Prime Minister Bob Hawke, decreed this day would be set aside and be known as Vietnam Veterans Day, a day that everyone, regardless of whether they were service persons or not, could pause and remember not only those very gallant men of D Coy 6 RAR but also the 521 young people who paid the supreme price, and lost their lives in the search for freedom,” Mr Smith said.

“We will pause to remember the tragic losses of our allies, especially the 51 New Zealanders, 58,000 Americans and also the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese losses were in the vicinity of one million combat-killed and four million civilians with about one million suffering from exposure to Agent Orange today.”

The Source

Vets receive warm welcome decades after returning from Vietnam Read more: http://www.springsmilitarylife.com/blogs/vietnam-veterans-welcomed-home-at-

Vets receive warm welcome decades after returning from Vietnam

“I cried like a baby,” Tallerdy said. “I never got what we got today. It made me feel real good.”

It took 41 years, but Tallerdy got the welcome home he had been waiting for.

He and about 500 other Vietnam War veterans were greeted with a standing ovation and many thanks Friday at Fort Carson, 50 years after the first U.S. forces were deployed to Vietnam. The daylong festivities included music, food, bounce houses, and a dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Gazebo.