Vietnam Veterans Day proposed

[BLUEHAWK]

Vietnam vets lobby for a day of honor


By Judy Keen - USA TODAY
Posted : Monday Feb 15, 2010 640 EST
Some Vietnam War veterans are fighting for a day of their own.
They have persuaded several state legislatures and dozens of cities to designate Vietnam Veterans Day and are lobbying others for a symbol of the gratitude and respect they believe they were denied when they came home from an unpopular war.
“We served with honor and we want people to know that,” says Bill Albracht, 61, secretary of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) chapter in the Quad Cities area of Iowa and Illinois. “We were ridiculed and defamed ... and we took it. Now we’re trying to set the record straight.”
The U.S. honors all of its war veterans on Nov. 11. Several area cities passed proclamations making March 30 Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, and on Tuesday, Albracht will ask the Rock Island County (Ill.) Board for support.
Some advocates say the last U.S. troops left Vietnam on March 30, 1973; others say the correct date is March 29 and support recognizing Vietnam War veterans on that day. Neither group is seeking a national holiday that gives federal workers the day off.
“People really just want some recognition,” says John Rowan, national VVA president.
In September, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation making March 30 Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.
“They’re still a lost generation out there in many ways,” says Assemblyman Paul Cook, a Republican and Vietnam War veteran.
Jose Ramos, 60, a Vietnam veteran in Whittier, Calif., helped lead the effort in his state. Working for appreciation for vets helps him cope with the war’s still-vivid scars, he says. “I’m really proud, but my nightmares are my nightmares,” he says.
Dann Dunham, 60, a Vietnam veteran in Crossville, Tenn., who organizes efforts to commemorate Vietnam War vets on March 29, says at least eight states have passed proclamations and there are active campaigns in others.
Veterans in Ohio are working for passage of legislation there. “It doesn’t cost anything, it’s so simple — how could anyone be against it?” says Paul Hauke, 61, a Vietnam War veteran from Sandusky, Ohio. He will be in Columbus this week to make the case.
Donald Lanthorn, with the Ohio American Legion, testified in a legislative committee against the proposed March 29 holiday there, in part because William Calley, the Army officer who led the 1968 My Lai massacre in Vietnam, was convicted on that date in 1971.
“We’re not convinced,” Lanthorn says, that a separate day of recognition for Vietnam War vets is needed, but “we’re not attempting to demean their service.”
Diane Finnemann will mark the third Vietnam veterans observance next month in Minnesota, where her lobbying helped win passage in 2008. Her brother Wallace Schmidt, a Vietnam War vet who had post-traumatic stress disorder, committed suicide in 1972.
“I feel,” she says, “as though I have extended my brother’s life’s work.”

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/0...ns_day_021510/

[Packo]

My opinion...we have a day, it's called Veterans Day. I don't see any reason why we should have our own day any more than any other Veteran. We have been recognized for what happened to us over and over again. I think it's overkill.

Pack

[Gimpy]

What my brother Packo said!

Gimp

[DMZ-LT]

I agree , Veterans Day recognises all of us. Memorial Day is when I reflect back to those who gave all in Vietnam as well as other wars. That's my Vietnam Veterans Day.

[revwardoc]

I've said it before on this site: give ALL veterans the day off with pay on Veterans Day. Just provide a DD-214 to your employer and sleep in late. With all the vets in Congress, you'd think one of them would have the foresight, and the balls, to do this.

[Whale]

I agree with all of the above. I did my duty and am sure many others did. No big thing. I cant stomach whiners and that is how I see those pushing for special treatment -- whiners and a large dose of wannabes who never left our shores to begin with.

VETERAN's DAY -- one size fits all.

[5thgrpguy]

No need for a special day just for those of us that served in SE Asia...As mentioned by my esteem brothers above.. There are enough wannabes and losers that try to get on the VN Veteran band wagon as it is..Leave it alone

Ron P.

[BLUEHAWK]

Don't see the need for it either.

[ussfa344]

I agree with all y'all. But what the heck -- we have Black History month, why no Viet Nam veterans month, or even our own season for that matter? Yeah, that's it. We need our own season. How about winter -- The Winter of Or Discontent? Maybe spring -- we were quick to spring into action. Or even summer -- in honor of the Summer of Love. Of course, we could always go for fall -- to commemorate the fall of Saigon.

Robert, juss bein hepful ovah heah boss

[1CAVCCO15MED]

Just do the math. I checked, that is his birthdate.


Edward XXXXX - LIMESTONE

Mr. Edward XXXXX, age 71, Limestone, TN passed away Sunday, February 14, 2010, at the John M. Reed Nursing Home.

Mr. XXXXX was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and was a son of the late Esker & Helen Greer XXXXX.

He was a US Army Veteran, having served in the Korean War.

Survivors include cousins, Billy XXXXX, Chesapeake, VA, and Martha Ann XXXXX, Norfolk, VA, Charles XXXXX, Norfolk, Va., and Lewis XXXXX Lewisburg, N.C.

Graveside services will be conducted at 10:00 a.m. Friday, February , at Mountain Home National Cemetery. Military honors will be presented by Rolling Thunder.