The Fall River Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day Ceremony was held on March 25, 2022, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Justin Latini, President of VVA Chapter 207, opened the ceremony by discussing the chapter's history, founded in 1985, and its commitment to ensuring no generation of veterans is abandoned. Father Phil Solis delivered the opening and closing prayers, which included a moment of silence for those who died in Vietnam, those affected by Agent Orange, and victims of the ongoing war in Ukraine, noting Pope Francis's consecration of Ukraine and Russia. Mikaela Britto, Fall River's Veterans Service Officer, and Mayor Paul Coogan both emphasized the importance of honoring Vietnam veterans and how their experiences shaped the welcome for subsequent generations. Jack Sprague, a committee member for the memorial wall, highlighted the collaborative effort involved in its construction and the importance of educating students about the war while separating the warrior from the conflict. Marcindo Gomez, President of the Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans of America State Council, spoke passionately about the veterans' pride in their service, their fight for improved VA benefits, and the VVA's success in securing $46 million in claims for veterans in fiscal year 2021. He also announced an upcoming $100,000 grant for their work. Marine Colonel Don Albert read a proclamation from Governor Charles D. Baker, officially designating March 29, 2022, as Vietnam Veterans Day in Massachusetts. The ceremony concluded with a wreath-laying by Roberto Colon, President of Bilingual Veterans, and a final prayer.
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my name is justin latini i'm a wartime vietnam veteran and president of vva vietnam veterans of america chapter 207 today we're going to gather here to recognize another milestone of the 9 million men and women who served during the vietnam war i won't speak too much about today's event because our other speakers i'll take all their material away and i've been the one who spoke last sometimes and then you've got
0:24nothing else to say but i want to give you a quick history of 207 12 7 was charted in 1985 and most of its members were from here in fall river and more than 60 percent are still from fall river uh we have a founding member here today it's the national chaplain uh phil solis is was one of the founding members of 207 and he told me they used to meet out in la salette
0:50and then they moved to president ave and they lost their housing in prison av and couldn't find a home so a world war ii veteran named leon leo saint arranch from westport said he always felt bad for the vietnam veterans the way they were treated so he made sure that the american legion in westport opened its doors for the for our chapter and he also went and bought us a van so
1:15that we could continue to provide ceremonies this ceremony and the mia pow ceremony has been hosted and celebrated by 207 for more than 25 years we used to host it up at kennedy park and then it was moved several years ago to the fall river city hall and now with this memorial behind us being dedicated last year we now will hold these events here which is appropriate because this is vietnam
1:44veterans remembrance day it celebrates not only our heroes that are on the wall but those of you who came home it's the 9 million of us who served during the war and we should also be proud of where we served i've talked with veterans who say well i really didn't do much i didn't i wasn't a combat veteran and i always ask him three things did they go where they told you to go
2:10did they did you do what they told you to do and did you come home when they told you to come home and if you did those things you should be proud of your service whether you were on a base here in the united states maybe in texas or an air force base in pease or whether you're in an air weather station up in alaska or on a base in south korea or in germany
2:32whether you're on a ship in the indonesia sea or as a combat veteran in vietnam we all should be proud of our service and we should let no one not a civilian or another veteran from another war or from our war ever dismiss what we did for our country and for those who served in the last 20 years bva when it was established in 1985 veterans from vietnam were not welcomed home they weren't welcomed by other
3:01veterans groups and so in 1985 vietnam veterans got together and made their own charter we charted our own organization and before they even voted for their president they made a national motto and that motto stated never again will one generation of veterans abandon another that's their core mission to ensure that those who followed behind us would never be forgotten and would always be thanked for their service
3:32so when you meet a vietnam veteran you thank those who served and when you meet a combat veteran you always welcome them home and that's pretty much it for the day i'm not gonna go into i'm gonna let our other speakers go ahead of me but at this time i'd like to face the flag and uh pledge allegiance to the flag behind her i pledge allegiance to the flag of the
4:00united states of america and to the republic which extends one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice at this time i would like to bring up father phil for the opening prayer
4:40if you'll excuse me i had to my printer went out of whack so i had to use the uh put to leave the prayer on my on my thing on my my uh device here so uh there we go let us pray gracious and almighty god every year on the 29th of march vietnam veterans and those who love them and care for them come to you to ask for healing healing of memories forgiveness and and of
5:23all physical ailments and blessings of freedom and enjoy that we enjoy here in america may our observance be a timely reminder that our freedom can't be purchased at a high cost and should not be taken for granted bless the families and friends of those we honor today and bless the veterans that we share memories with stories and learn to enrich our day finally dear lord grant eternal rest to all those whose
6:02names are inscribed on the vietnam wall right behind us here and for those who have called to yourself since the war let's not forget those who never returned we pray that a full accounting of of them will soon be attained however dear lord this year is different than from all other years we have an unjust war being perpetrated on the ukraine by a merciless dictator in russia killing
6:38thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians today holy father the holy father pope francis has consecrated both the ukraine and russia to the immaculate heart of mary on his feast day we celebrate today let us all pause for a moment of silence for all ukrainians who have died needlessly in this war and for the russian soldiers who have also given up their lives may they all rest in god's eternal peace
7:09and a moment of silence for them and for all of our prisoners of war and missing in action
7:25in your holy name o lord we pray amen please be seated i would also like to uh i'm sorry welcome all you veterans vietnam veterans invited guests public officials and all others here today to celebrate us the vietnam war veterans day at this time i would like to bring up mikaela britto veterans service officer fall river good afternoon and welcome to our beautiful park and our wonderful wall
8:06behind us that has been brought here by many many of our vietnam veterans and supportive family members and elected officials today 50 years ago i'm gonna age myself i was two years old so i don't remember much obviously about the vietnam war but it has always been a forefront to me because as a desert shield as a storm veteran i've seen how we were welcomed home by you our vietnam veterans and how it has changed
8:39the way any and all veterans or military personnel come home and if again if it weren't for you we wouldn't be here honoring the 50th anniversary of the vietnam war thank you
8:58at this time i would like to bring up mayor paul coogan who has been supporting veterans since his time in office thank you man again it's really special to be down here today to honor those behind us on this wall that gave so much for the country i think as someone that grew up in that era the war was unpopular but it transferred to the warriors and that was the mistake
9:31those people that served in whether they were nurses military or anybody on the lines that helped with that battle gave everything they could to support our country and it just didn't work out as positive as it has for other veterans group and they've always seemed like they've been treated differently but not in fall river not today we honor their service we honor their work and i'm humbled to be allowed
9:56to come down here and tip my hat to all those individuals both on the wall and in front of me today thank you very very much for your service and it means a lot to the country and everyone else thank you before i bring up the next guest i would like to say that uh we had a good group of committee members i believe there were 16 of us who came together five years ago
10:27for the building of this wall no one man can build a wall no one city no one person can do it it took a state it took a region to build this incredible wall and for about two and a half years i had the pleasure of driving around the state from places i've never heard beyond i didn't realize it was cities and towns beyond holyoke and above linfield and we were
10:49down in the cape and we were in rhode island and uh my uh next speaker uh my wife told me that i used to always have a date that him and i were always traveling together was the two of us i was going out on a date somewhere whether it was a radio station at night or coffee first thing in the morning somewhere but uh i had the pleasure of uh
11:07more than two and a half years with this uh this man and uh i'd like to bring up jack sprague please well thank you justin and welcome everyone thank you so much for coming i used to tease justin's wife and i think i spent more time with him than she did during that period um i want to again uh also acknowledge the wonderful work of the committee uh many
11:36are here if you could raise your hands i appreciate it uh so good to see you here and thank you to our representatives up in the holy city for promoting our good work representative silvia representative viola representative schmidt and of course senator rodriguez i was my pleasure to serve i want to acknowledge joe marshall who could not be here today but joe was our chair of our committee
12:05and just uh was tireless in his promotion and leadership to bring this all together you can imagine what a massive project this was and thank the committee just one point about my job of one of my jobs on the committee besides going around the world with with justin was to talk be the education commission committee and it was astonishing to me of course we lived through it and we remember it well
12:36but students today have no really not a memory but they have no knowledge of uh what went on in the 60s and 70s so it was something that i really wanted to promote uh was education about the war and i'm very uh emphatic that we have to separate the warrior from the war the war was controversial uh and however you felt about it is uh you know that's up to you
13:04but the warrior and the honoring of the service that went on uh that's something that we should all come together and and uh honor and promote and thank a veteran for the great service this park uh with all of the monuments is is really emblematic of the support that the city of fall river has provided to veterans long long time and mayor coogan is just following absolutely that same tradition in exemplary fashion
13:39but this is really a jewel for all of uh massachusetts not just fall river uh it took as you imagine it took a lot of work to get this wall together uh starting from scratch uh but we made it and here it is and it's a beautiful uh remembrance of a time long ago so uh it was my honor to serve on it and i think all of the other committee members feel the same way
14:06thank you very much thank you for coming now it's my pleasure to bring up massachusetts vietnam veterans of america state council president kumasindo gomez
14:36how you doing mike can you hear me amen i don't think i need a mic thank you for having us or having me here as your guest speaker thank you justin and vip for being with us especially you vietnam veterans look around look at yourself see how great we look after 50 years we look good we look good we're still kicking it around we're still making it happen my name is marcindo gomez and i preside
15:27over the state council since 2014.
15:33you know a little more years here i also served at the national board in silver springs maryland and i am the national minority veterans chair for vva so on behalf of our president i salute you now bring your greeting from our board we the vietnam veterans we the youngsters during our time they say yes i'm ready i will serve my country we didn't go to canada we didn't go to mexico
16:18we didn't go to santo domingo we went down south we went to vietnam and did our duty did our duty and today we are proud of what we did we came back they kicked us around some but they could not keep those down no way we were gonna stay down what we did is we turned this country around we turned the va around we made it veteran better for our veterans to come as
17:05justin was saying never again another generation will be forgotten and that is exactly what we're doing right now and what we have done we have made it easier for our kids when they come back from iraq afghanistan and other wars that they can receive their benefits and that they can be welcomed as heroes of this country
17:38ain't too many of us are on yet many of us were killed in vietnam to die in america with our ptsd's and our agent orange cygnus i was just talking to one of my buddies here a little while ago he's a member of our uh delegation at the state council and he was telling me of all the sicknesses that he has developed here lately from agent orange it hurts me because every one of us are going
18:19that route sooner or later but those that are a vault that are still standing we're not giving up let it happen because when we go we will go in honor saying we did the best we could i want to salute a brother of mine who served with me in the same battalion in vietnam 66-67 thank you my brother
18:55that is that is special for me and that is special for him because we saw what we saw and we fought what we fought and today we are here together our remembrance guys don't give up use every resources that you have available to include the va the state council here in massachusetts is doing a wonderful job i salute justin for the job that he's doing down here in four rivers with his chapter
19:38last year fiscal year 21 vietnam veterans of america brought in in claims 46 million dollars vietnam veterans of america are reassured program we're capable of bringing that much money into the coffins of massachusetts on tuesday i'll be very proud to receive a grant of one hundred thousand dollars so we can continue to do the work that we're doing for our state and our veterans but it takes individuals like yourself
20:24and myself that are not giving up to continue our legacy and to put those who are behind us in honor their lives were not in vain not for one minute not for one minute it was in vain they went the way they were meant to go because our god has our past carved and our god allowed us to be here today it was because he had a purpose with us and that purpose was
21:11to help our brothers to help those that can't help themselves i want to read you a poem from a wife of a combat veteran her name is vicky wilson she wrote this back in 1987.
21:34it's called the vietnam veteran as our men go off to war to a land they have never seen bravery is suddenly learned and shown where before will seldom seem basic training was the only teacher for the job and the determination was high quietly boarding the military planes refer refreeding their love once goodbye the flight was long and weary and the men's show no fear little did they know that in the future
22:34were many tears patriotism was their guide and strength helping them through the night as they waited quietly in the foxholes their minds filled with fright drugs were used to duel the pain of the awful sights of war greens were dream and wishes made to go back come back home to our loving land many didn't survive the war their peers and bodies gone surviving soldiers don't understand why they are still alive after
23:34all is saved and done many thought fleet through their minds during the long trip home as they landed expecting cheers they noticed no one came tears were dwell up in their eyes and sadness steal their pride society has shrunk them with no remorse and nobody is underside from one who has lived with a vietnam veteran i want you all to know you did your best and went through hell it's great to have you home
24:37that was us guys that was us lord bless you at this time i would like to bring up marine colonel don albert chapter 207.
25:02i have a proclamation to read from our governor whereas today we recognize the more than three million americans who served in the vietnam war and the over 58 000 men and women who died were lost during the war and whereas throughout our country's history thousands of massachusetts citizens have fought in wars and in conflicts to defend our safety and our way of life and whereas their legacy of patriotism
25:43and dedication to country is an inspiration to all americans and whereas it is appropriate that all massachusetts citizens remember the bravery of those who gave their lives so that their sacrifices serve as a reminder of the cost of our freedom now therefore i charles d baker governor of the commonwealth of massachusetts do hereby proclaim march 29 2022 to be veterans day veteran vietnam veterans day and urge
26:29all the citizens of the commonwealth to take cognizance of this event and participate fittingly in its observance given at the executive chamber in boston this 25th day of march in the year 2022 and of the independence of the united states of america the 245th charles d baker before we move on with the the remaining of the event i would just like to mention that uh bruce is here today i mentioned that we
27:10only have about 40 spots left open for the pavers and uh bruce is down front if you'd like to see him um at the end of the ceremony please see bruce and uh he'll talk to you about the pavers that we have but well at this time i would like to uh bring up president roberto colon president bilingual veterans we'll be laying the old glory wreath which will be left here today in memory of all the
27:36veterans
27:50please come to your feet
28:12and at this time i'd like to bring back up phil father phil for the closing prayer
28:23let us pray heavenly father we give you thanks and praise for bringing us here together to honor the veterans of the vietnam war especially those whose names are inscribed on the wall behind us and those who have died since the war from agent orange and other diseases related to the war we ask you to bless our families bless the families of all those who have died that they might be consoled that they
28:52might know that their loved one is up in paradise with you dear lord we ask you to continue we pray for peace peace in this world for an end of war please dear lord bring the prince of peace down to end this war in ukraine and through the senseless killing of all these poor innocent people we make this prayer in your holy name and may the almighty god bless you all
29:21in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen go in peace my friends all i gotta ten hook four arms right face
29:51right face freezing up
30:48rest again vietnam veterans would like to thank everyone for coming here today please drive safe thank you very much