Celebrating veterans: Veterans groups plan Welcome Home event
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PARKERSBURG - Mid-Ohio Valley residents will have a chance to celebrate Vietnam veterans on March 29.
The Washington County Veterans Service Department will host a Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony in Marietta and Joining Forces of the Mid-Ohio Valley will be hosting a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Ceremony and a resource fair in Parkersburg, both on March 29.
Washington County Veterans Services Executive Director Robert Fitzgerald said that his department has been holding a Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony for at least the last six years and that it is part of the national annual observance of Vietnam War Veterans Day, which started in 2021 and which declared March 29 as the official day.
According to the Department of Defense website, the Vietnam War Veterans Day proclamation was signed on the 50th anniversary of the departure of the last American troops from Vietnam, March 29,1973.
The website said that more than 58,000 Americans were killed and many thousands more were wounded and injured or determined to be missing during the Vietnam War.
According to the website, the Vietnam War Veterans Day proclamation said "In one of the war's most profound tragedies, many of these men and women came home to be shunned or neglected -- to face treatment unbefitting their courage and a welcome unworthy of their example. We must never let this happen again."
Fitzgerald said the Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Ceremony is "a way for our nation to thank those veterans that never got a proper welcome home."
The event is a way for the nation to say thank you to the Vietnam veterans and all they have done and a way to thank their families. For the last several years the ceremony has had 300 or more attendees including 70 to 80 veterans, he said.
The ceremony will be held March 29 from 5-7 p.m. at Dyson Baudo Recreation Center in Marietta. It will be catered by Marietta College and music will be played by Band of Brothers.
There will be two keynote speakers this year, Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jason Nulton and Eva Nguyen Whitfield, who wrote "Uncommon Cargo: Sacrifice. Survival. Hope" about Whitfield and her family's escape from Vietnam in 1975, according to Fitzgerald.
During the ceremony there will be a presentation of colors by The Ohio University Air Force ROTC
Any veterans that want to come up and introduce themselves and give their name, rank, branch, group they served in and where they served, Fitzgerald said.
Also during the ceremony they will recognize all veterans that were chosen by local American Legion, Amvets, Veterans of Foreign Wars and other veterans organizations as their Vietnam veteran of the year, Fitzgerald said.
In Parkersburg, Event Coordinator Jerry Smith said that there has been a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Ceremony in the city for at least the last 10 years. The event is also held as part of the national annual observance of Vietnam War Veterans Day.
Smith has coordinated the event for the last 10 years and said it is held "to honor and welcome home our Vietnam veterans."
Last year 500 to 600 people, including 94 veterans, attended the event, Smith said.
The Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Ceremony will be held on March 29 at 10 a.m.at the Army National Guard Armory at 1550 Blizzard Dr. in Parkersburg. It will be catered by national award winning T&S BBQ, Smith said.
The keynote speaker will be Vietnam Veterans of America Tri-State Chapter 949 President Ron Wroblewski. Assistant Adjutant General of the West Virginia Army National Guard and Army Brigadier General Murray E. Holt will say a few words at the ceremony. A presentation of colors will be conducted by South Parkersburg High School ROTC, according to Smith.
Something special that will happen at the ceremony will be an unveiling of a monument for Vietnam veterans. The monument is something Smith said he has wanted to do for a long time. It will be placed next to the Purple Heart Memorial at the Sunset Memory Gardens Cemetery.
After the ceremony a resource fair will be held at 11 a.m. There are 65 vendors that are organizations that help people are signed up for the resource fair, he said.
As part of this event, 734 flags will be placed in front of the armory to honor each West Virginia veteran that died in Vietnam. The name of each person will be read as their flag is placed and a bell will be rung. Taps will also be played. This will start at 2 p.m. on March 24, according to Smith