Posted on 05/04/2005 3:20:27 PM PDT by CHARLITE
While others talked the cheap talk these are the guys who walked the real Vietnam walk. And this Friday, as a new war rages in Iraq, the New Yorkers who served in Vietnam will march across the Brooklyn Bridge to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this city's Vietnam veterans "Welcome Home" ceremony.
The event will start at 10 a.m. at Cadman Plaza Park, with an 11 a.m. march across the Brooklyn Bridge to Vietnam Veterans Plaza at 55 Water St.
Remembrance ceremonies begin at noon with keynote speakers, followed by a POW/MIA wreath laying, and a reunion center.
Although I never served in the military, 20 years ago I tagged along as my brother John marched with his fellow Vietnam vets in that parade that took place 10 years after the fall of Saigon to commemorate the millions who served and the 58,000 Americans who died, 1,741 from New York City.
I'd crossed the Brooklyn Bridge thousands of times before, but I had never felt the thrill I experienced as those Vietnam vets marched across the storied span, many missing limbs, some in wheelchairs, others carting shrapnel, some destroyed by Agent Orange, most filled with ghastly memories that had forever altered their lives.
(Excerpt) Read more at nydailynews.com ...
Ping!
That little puke Hamil would not havge survived a week in the service stateside, let alone Viet Nam.
I finally took the "Swift Boat Vets for Bush" signs off my car and wow have I had fun with them here. I got tons of sneers, grimaces, fingers and various other insults and promptly returned each one with a W I D E grin.
*^) Nam Vet
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