The 5th anniversary of National Vietnam War Veterans Day was recognized at the Central Texas Veterans Memorial Tuesday morning.
The ceremony honored the 11 Brown County servicemen who lost their lives in Vietnam:
- Raymond Rodriguez Delgado
- Eddie Lee Ephraim
- James T. Griffin Jr.
- J.D. Harrell
- Phillip Hease Holmes
- Arthur Earl Keesee
- Brit P. Lemmons
- Williard Alton Perry Jr.
- Michael Autrey Teague
- Nelson Payne Tuttle
- Kenneth Wayne Wheeler
Colonel Tom Gray addressed those in attendance, stating, “This is a very important day, not only for me but for all of you who served your country whether it was in Vietnam or other wars or conflicts. The older I get, the more it means to go to ceremonies like this to recognize other soldiers. I’m glad that you’re here to honor them as well. When you’re going around and see one of these guys with a Vietnam cap on somewhere, not only say thank you for your service, which I think is wonderful, but also say welcome home. It’s taken me a long time in my life to believe that after coming back through San Francisco and seeing a nation totally against the war and for some reason trying to blame us.”
Gray, 77, continued, “We all had an edge of fear in combat. We did what we were trained to do, but you always have that little edge of fear about your life. Not only did we have the fear … your spouse had fear, too. I can only imagine while we were gone and they were mowing the grass, paying the bills, taking the trash out, everything we did they were doing, plus what they were doing and still watching the children, getting them to the school and always walking around the house with one eye out in the front yard praying that a military sedan wouldn’t pull up at the front door. I constantly think of the contributions the wives played in our collective lives.”
Gray added that 2.79 million men and women served their country in Vietnam and approximately 850,000 are still alive. Of the near three million that served, 750,000 were women. At the end of the conflict more than 303,000 were wounded and approximately 75,000 were severely disabled. There was also 766 prisoners of war, and 114 died in captivity. There are still around 1,500 people that are unaccounted for – both those who served as well as civilians during the conflict. More than 58,000 soldiers perished.
March 29 was chosen to be observed as National Vietnam Veterans Day as in 1973, that was the date United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disestablished and also the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam. In addition, on and around this same day Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners of war.
