The Fall River Vietnam War Veterans Day remembrance ceremony was held on March 29, 2023, at the Government Center, honoring Vietnam veterans for their service and sacrifices. The event commenced with the singing of the national anthem, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Charlie Denmead, head of the Veterans War Council, and an opening prayer by Mr. Bailey. Charles Denmead welcomed attendees, acknowledging the support of Mayor Paul Coogan and the efforts of the Fall River Veterans Service Office, particularly its new officer, Michelle Hamilton. Mayor Coogan spoke about Fall River's deep pride in its veterans, remembering the nearly three million soldiers who served and the 58,000 Americans who never returned, including 23 Fall River residents. Michelle Hamilton, the Veterans Service Officer, read the Presidential Proclamation on National Vietnam War Veterans Day, highlighting the ongoing 50th-anniversary commemoration of the war, which will continue through November 11, 2025. She also received recognition for her instrumental role in getting the POW/MIA flag flown daily on public buildings nationwide. The "Commandos Vietnam Veteran Outstanding Service Award" was presented to Lenny Tavares, a retired Navy veteran, in his absence. Mr. Damaris shared a poignant poem titled "The Probe" and delivered a deeply personal reflection on his own experiences as a 17-year-old Marine in Vietnam, detailing the harsh realities of combat, the challenges of returning home to a changed society, and the lasting impact of his service, including struggles with PTSD and the importance of veteran camaraderie. The ceremony concluded with a closing prayer from Father Rob Nemkovic of Blessed Trinity Church, who is also a veteran, and a rendition of "God Bless America" by Kevin Evan, before the colors were retired. Speakers consistently emphasized the importance of expressing gratitude to Vietnam veterans, who often returned home without the recognition and respect they deserved, and pledged to never forget their sacrifices and the ongoing efforts to account for those still missing.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Watch the video to verify.
Council
Public / Other
foreign foreign
1:13will now sing the national anthem oh say can you see why the dawn Delight what so proudly we held at the twilight's last gleaming who's brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight or the Ram parts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet way foreign
2:56I'd like to introduce to you Charlie denmead who is the head of the Veterans war council in Fall River Mr denmead you can do the pledge can you stand please Pizza flag pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible the freedom of justice for all
3:47thank you Bailey is going to give us a opening prayer please uncover again
4:09first of all thank you all for being here today inaugural of our veterans we ask the good lord to bless each and every one of them for out his mercy and Grace upon each and every one of you and also for the gold star parents and families and thank him for this wonderful day that he's given us there's a continuance of what we're going to do today and bless each and everyone here today thank you amen
4:41thank you Mr Bailey as always now you may all be seated I am you know what I think we all need exercise so I had you going up and down get those knees working now the um head of the Fall River war council Mr Charles denmead
5:11we'll hold it huh this thing's got duct tape it's like most of our mechanics use it but um I'd like to thank everybody for coming today I want to welcome and thank everyone for joining us today here at Government Center for our annual Vietnam War Veterans Day remembrance ceremony uh this Fred is hosted by the Forever War veterans Council and the former veterans Service office in uh with um the assistance of our
5:45brand new uh breakfast Service Officer Michelle Hamilton this is our first ceremony with her as a veteran service officer but not our first ceremony with her in our attendance I assure you she is uh part of the reason why we have this chair here and then we have this event annually I'd like to thank uh mayor Paul Coogan for more Mr uh Mia's support of all of the events in his support for all
6:17of the veterans in this community um as I look around this room and uh I see a lot of the same familiar faces that were here at our first event um I see Mr Biscoe there and um I remember when Mr Biscoe worked here in um he um is with a lot people think of um a Vietnam veteran a hard worker a dedicated to his service and his work in
6:59a man of few words in a lot of passion and um you know I I Look to this event each year and uh he's always always here and uh it's just a staple I look around this room at every ceremony that we have annually and uh unfortunately some of the faces that were here are no longer with us Mr Boya um names go on but people that have dedicated Vietnam veterans that went on and served came
7:35back to no Fanfare came back to no welcome no thank you no gratitude some of them went on to serve serve their Community to serve other veterans in they're no longer with us today to celebrate with us um this is the for all of us is to remember and express our thanks and gratitude to those veterans that served in Vietnam um those that came back to no Fanfare to no thank you with no gratitude to those
8:10that came back and didn't survive to the families that were devastated thou heartbroken we come here today to remember and be grateful but to never forget that those there that are still unaccounted for that we still have not brought them back home and we were yet to never forget them and still wait for their return um I will ask one thing and I won't be long-winded I'll ask for one day we not wait every
8:49year for this day to come to be grateful for what the men and women that served in Vietnam and be grateful for them that we continue each day to express our gratitude not thanks for everything that they've done for us and moving forward I want to thank everyone for coming today and to sharing this time with us thank you now it gives me a great honor to introduce to you the mayor and chief of
9:23the city of Fall River mayor Paul Coogan it's really nice to see a great crowd out on a very special day like this so uh we appreciate everybody coming down the government center and I want to thank everyone particularly for being here on Vietnam veterans remembrance days I am extremely honored to serve as the mayor of the city of Fall River where Pride for our veterans and Fallen Soldiers runs extremely deep
9:57today we're here to remember the nearly three million soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War their bravery and sacrifice are the reasons we're here today we also have to remember the 58 000 Americans who never came back leaving a missing piece in families and communities across the country Vietnam veterans Remembrance Day is also a day for us as Citizens and as elected officials to remember our commitment to
10:31those families of the individuals that did not return I think that's what we hear about today that's why this day is so important and again I appreciate everyone for coming out thank you very much thank you if Mr Damaris could come up to provide us with the next person to speak make a quick um what I want to say we're supposed to this point is you probably already need to remind everybody here
11:06Michelle Hamilton is our new vso he should she's your next speaker but as was mentioned before previously that chair there let's donate the forwarder by Rolling Thunder at the behestan leadership of Michelle and all the cities and towns in southeast Mass have their chair because of Rolling Thunder and Michelle but there's something else many of you may not know about her and I want to make sure we tell you
11:29you see the POW flag flying on all public buildings across the United States you know how that happened Michelle Hamilton she went and she saw Senator Warren over and over again it took over two years in visiting a lot of congressmen and senators and was able to get that bill passed for that flag to Media so I could give her a hand as she comes up thank you
12:00thank you so much it wasn't trust me it was the whole Rolling Thunder chapter Massachusetts chapter 2 really worked incredibly hard to get that flag Act passed rolling thunder in general worked for 33 years before we stepped in and we worked with Senator Warren and Senator cotton to get that flag flying every day not just eight days a year so thank you so much for the credit on that um I'm gonna read
12:33as I wrecked the place um and let me just recognize I know I'm the veteran service officer it's quite an honor and a privilege however the staff of the veterans service office they're here today and they truly are the backbone of veteran services here so if you guys would please stand up and be acknowledge we got two here and two hiding in the back so uh Connie and Judy and Joan and
13:04Rebecca they really do a lot for veterans and they really are the unsung heroes of the department so I think it's important that they get recognized um and just to mention as well the 23 Fall River residents that are on the wall who made the ultimate sacrifice for this um during the Vietnam war so what I'm going to do is I'm going to read for you the presidential Proclamation on National Vietnam War Veterans Day we
13:34honor all those who bravely served in the Vietnam War and who sacrificed as did their families caregivers on behalf of this nation for almost two decades Americans raised their right hand and committed to serve and defend our constitution as uniformed members of the United States armed forces during a tumultuous period in our country's history throughout the history of the Vietnam
13:59War nine million Americans earned the title of United States veteran today and every day we honor their Brave commitment and give thanks to a generation of Americans who valiantly fought in service of this country the country they love while recognizing the continuing impact on so many veterans of the Vietnam conflict along with their families caregivers and survivors we will always remember those we lost and
14:26honor those who came home in 2012 our nation launched a 13-year commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War to ensure that every veteran family caregiver and Survivor that was impacted in those difficult years in Vietnam feels our nation's gratitude for their sacrifice every service member of the Vietnam generation should know that their sacrifice mattered and that their
14:54service made a difference the names etched in the wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park remind us of our loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice and never came home to the families caregivers and survivors of the more than 58 000 service members whose names are memorialized in the black granite we pledge to you to never forget the Eternal sacrifice of your loved ones and what sacrifice they've made for our
15:22nation to the families of the over 15 000 service members who remain missing and unaccounted for know that our nation's efforts to bring them home will never stop we pledge to you our steadfast care and support to our Vietnam Veterans as we do for all veterans we will honor their sacrifice and obligation to your family and to each of the Six Million Vietnam War era veterans who are with us here
15:57today we honor your service and all that you have done for our nation now therefore Joseph R Biden Jr president of the United States of America by virtue of the authority vested in Me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States I do hereby affirm the nation's commitment to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war which began on Memorial Day May 28 2012 and will continue through
16:27Vietnam through Veterans Day November 11 2025. I call upon all Americans to seek out and extend the nation's profound gratitude to each of our Vietnam veterans and their families and I personally just want to say to every Vietnam veteran here welcome home
16:56I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce some of the individuals that are here today for us our three state representatives representative Carol Fiola and our veteran Representatives Paul Schmidt and representative Alan Silvia thank you I know that some people have to leave to go to Boston but thank you for your presence here today also there's a number of people that are here
17:21we have Ken Levesque who's from the Bristol County veterans Center which is located at the Boyer Veterans building on Pine Street Dawn Trahan who's here from the vet's kitchen uh John Donnelly who's here representing the Marine Corps League Jack Gibney from the DAV I know we've already mentioned Joe bisco and I had the great pleasure of serving with him on the Vietnam Wall committee and
17:45I've never seen someone so dedicated to Veterans as he we also have our form of eso and presently the vso of Dighton Ray Hague we have Mike O'Brien who is a certified vso claims officer our good friend Reverend Andy Stinson from the First Congregational Church Sue Neda from wsar whose supports and is on the board of the kitchen Bob Sylvia vva of Fall River and Jimmy t who does marvelous work with the Rolling Thunder
18:18and will be their new president I'd also like to give a shout out to Dean if you look at the cage that is built to you Dean built that cage by researching the specifications of what a cage looked like in size in bamboo down to the type of rope that was used so I I thank you very much Dean for all the work you put in to doing that and I just can't help
18:43but look at that and think of a prisoner of war having to spend days in there I mean we were just laughing about standing and sitting think about somebody squatting in that for a long time maybe getting to eat and that's why I have a passion for veterans also I have to give a shout out to my friends over at the police department for being here and I will tell you theachosi the rcto program ROTC program
19:18I'll get it right these young ladies and gentlemen are phenomenal I had the pleasure of going to Durfee for lunch and one of them works there as well and I couldn't have found a nicer young man they have a heck of a leader and two of them are going to be joining the United States Navy so thank you and congratulations now I'll have Mr Damaris read a poem Oh wait before that
19:52really hate to do this because the individual is not here but we do give the Commandos Vietnam veteran outstanding service award and this year the individual that we've given the service award to unfortunately could not be here with us today he doesn't even know he was getting this award so if you see him you can kind of let him know we get through this award but he has worked with a multitude of
20:21veterans organization he's been the treasurer and the finance person from many organizations uh he was an integral part of the vet's kitchen he was retired a member a veteran of the United States Navy and his name is Lenny Tavares so we could give a shout out to Lenny very very very well deserving I just feel bad he wasn't here today but I think that if he was he would have been
20:56really emotional and so maybe it's best that he isn't here but hopefully we'll all be able to see him and shake his hand and congratulate him and greater honor could not be just you know put on a better person now if Mr Damaris If You Could Read this poem
21:20thank you at this uh point in time you have a speaker come up somebody like uh Harry Tyrion most highly decorated Vietnam veterans command sergeant major or Joe Marshall uh the chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial board but uh unfortunately this year you have us all of us to have us okay so that's what you have we did have something scheduled if you need to walk out in the last minute they canceled out so what
21:51we're going to try to do here so what we're going to try to do here so I'm going to read a little poem to you and then uh same thing Harry did last year read some words to you from uh his memories of serving in Vietnam we'll talk about what a Vietnam veteran experience from Fall River uh after I read the poem just to explain to you in case you don't know the terminology most
22:11of you do VC how many know what VC is raise your hand Viet Cong the main enemy we fought in Vietnam everybody know what an AK is an AK-47 is the rifle used by our enemy chai comes those are the grenades that they threw at us and I know mostly people know that not most of you but at least half of you know what that stuff is and it's not friendly words
22:36this is called the probe it's written by a marine uh when he was on primitive Duty late at night and all of a sudden the Primitive got uh got a probe the probe is going to try to come through your wire to attack you to find out your weak point under cover of Darkness the VC approached with ak's blazing loud and chai comes down our throats somebody pray for me because I think I'm going to die
23:00I could hear a rocket streaming Roar above me in the sky is it outgoing or incoming God I wish I knew each second seemed so long as if they're splitting two I hear a hit and see a flash that's his Brightest Day moans of pain and Agony are not very far away my hands and my body are trembling my heartbeat I can feel and hear if the VC don't get me I'll probably die of fear
23:27we're throwing out all we've got which is how long can this last if it continues past tomorrow morning I'll miss the Catholic mass well the sun's up here come the people from The Ville I never thought before last night that some of them would kill guess I can go to church now my God what a war I'll pray for all the souls that died and for those of us who had to kill I'll
23:52pray a little more thank you
24:02have a if you don't mind we'll share a couple of things the reflection on something that went to Vietnam and basically talking about myself um when I went to Vietnam I was 17 years old there's a high great higher education as being a ninth grade dropout finish the ninth grade and now I joined the Marine Corps um uh it was an experience so all I can tell you is that uh
24:31I turned 17 on September 22nd by October 1st I was uh I was in the uh I was in the Marine Corps and not headed down to Paris Island I'm still in here to get my place I'm sorry okay first of all Boston the big city I went there by bus from there they put us on a train the centers down and South down south he's Parris Island and so I left the house of uh
25:07the city of Queen Anne stick style home and stick the ball and bowl of Wiki and free the box and got a train going south for a whole new Venture along the way the train stopped at little cities and towns that were built up along the railroad tracks and Shacks at one point in time we stopped at a little train stop with it was a a restroom and we all jumped off the train fast to
25:33run quick and get something to eat then we can grab something I had a couple of friends with me even from Boston um you know African-Americans they stood right to the right of me they ordered their food they were ignored then she asked me what I watched no they ordered and he says what do you want if you would not take their order and nobody else in that place would take their order
25:54so the rest of us turn around and step back on the train and those that already had food in their hands dropped it on the ground it was a strange experience I suddenly realized it was not Kansas anymore throughout the real world and so things are going down down around the world on our way to Paris Island the world is starting to change when I arrived at Paris Island the land of uh sand fleas
26:17and yelling drill instructors they gave me a great haircut buzzing me right down right down to nothing at that time remember it was the days of the Beatles we had long hair so he went from long hair Beetle haircut down to nothing now Boot Camp started off really good uh they had us run then he had us run but it has run some more we ran everywhere we went you guys
26:40are the directors know what I'm talking about up hills down Hills carrying packs moving a mountain of sand from one pile over to another pile and moving it back again all by Candle by hand um and after boot camp we all uh went to learn that missile military specialty mine was Communications with Advanced uh and we got Advanced Training done all of a sudden they're going to send us to Vietnam that quickly
27:06that quickly remember now I was 17. so we went home for 30 days and I couldn't wake the shoe off my uniform and bragged I went I made it to boot camp and just like my uncle Norman I had a uniform I even had red white and blues that was really nice so then the three days went by too quick towards the end and we went to 29 Palms to get ready to go to Vietnam
27:30the day before we left Vietnam another big adventure for me I got a tattoo a bulldog I think all the guys in any service know what I'm talking about we all went through the same thing now we're a man now we're in the military let's get a tattoo and he usually said U.S Navy Army Marine Corps whatever Branch we're in the next day we bought a plane for steamy hot Vietnam
27:51when the plane landed guess we were ice cold Alaska that was one of the stops along the way we were there for about a day and all I can remember about Alaska was snow on the Airfield and jukeboxes at the airport that showed actually showed a video I never saw that before coming from Fall River then we bought the play for Vietnam again this time we landed in Japan all along the way this didn't go
28:15straight to Vietnam like you thought we would nope next we're in Japan that was a very short stay Thank you very much thank you very much that was it the next stop for us was uh the plane was in the name stopped Vietnam and it was hot and steamy and chaos and Noise We were immediately rushed to a wooden Shack no time to even eat you know things were called out we're given our duty assignments Mayan
28:37was called out dung ha some issued a couple of groans here that said I know you know what it means Zhang when everybody in the whole room went ooh I got nervous uh it wasn't a nice sound it's almost like hearing slowly I turned step by step one of those it turned out John Harvard in Vietnam was the father's combat base in South Vietnam on the border of the quavia
29:01river you look across the river it was North Vietnam our enemy uh what was being in the Marines like in Vietnam well we all had different experience but I can share my feelings of playing with you so first and foremost we were all scared they're all scared the only way fool you don't know John Wayne there were no uh you know uh Cowboy uh Cowboys or whatever you want to you looked at when
29:27you you're growing up for movies and it was nothing like that or you walked around skid you were you were an FNG would you say okay watching me shows military people know the slang I won't complete the whole thing but we were a new guy how do we know what FNG is okay and FNG was the person who stood away from the minute he was there he didn't even talk to him for 30 days he more
29:50likely get you killed the only thing worse than him was a guy with a short time of 30 days to go he wasn't thinking the military or defense frame of mind he didn't go near him because he wasn't making the right decisions well in Vietnam there was a lot of boredom boredom waiting for something to happen there was also a lot of Duties you had to do like sweeping the roads for mines I
30:10don't mean with a broom I mean I like that John it wasn't a broom it was a big metal detector hold on pause me to get a call from the governor they we every morning we had to sweep the road for mines big giant like metal detectors and we were on a truck we had an M60 M50 men walking with their weapons waiting for something to happen or somebody to step on a Betty a box of
30:35Betty or something else that would uh knock us on I bought a heard a few guys we had him 50s and 60s won the truck uh it was a good day to walk down the road and look for mines when the villages were walking on the road we do very unlikely to be anymore anything any bombs or or anything planted along the road or any ambushes waiting for us and then when the results were there you
30:58walk very slowly because the villages knew before we did that the road was mined and they knew where to go I was the same way in the Middle East I'm sure right representing okay um next thing we did a lot of was primitive Duty not my favorite Duty they would have three was in a bunker on the edge of barbed wire base watching and listening for the VC see if they're going to come through the wire
31:23it was Pitch Black and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face you had your M16 maybe an M60 if you were lucky some pop-up players to see if when you heard a noise and most of the time one guy stood awake for a couple hours while the other two slept which they weren't supposed to but they did and all I can tell you that those are the longest nights of my life and I
31:43prayed and prayed all night long until the sun come up and to this day the doctor still bothers me know what I mean I mean it's a Black Knight on edge my duties of Vietnam were carrying messages by hand to different operations between Queen Creek and combat base one day we're driving down highway one which is at the time of dirt road leading down to Vietnam suddenly a bullet right through the front windshield
32:13what do we do we laugh like hell we just started laughing we couldn't we didn't know why we kept laughing a laughing and going faster and faster yeah he missed and we kept laughing that's what you did you didn't get ski just that's the way it was and that's what we did every day things we dealt with in Vietnam life was miserable constant heat rashes on your back your Crocs your legs
32:37your stomach if you carrying the radio your back was a mess there was the jungle rot on your feet stunk the high heaven as the flesh between your toes peeled away to a raw burning flesh when you ever took off your back your your boots it was rotten crusted socks instead of falling apart because you never took them off because you didn't want to have to smell those cruddy feet
32:56uh toilets well they were the best they were barrels cut down to about two feet high that we relieved ourselves in the worst Studio you could get if you didn't hike well enough from the commander was having to burn those barrels right guys you if you smell that you'll never forget it and it walks around inside your nostrils per day for days um if we were lucky to get a shower it
33:21would ever rain water we caught and it came out of a tube like a like a hose and it was ice cold we didn't use soap because you use soap with smell nice and attract the bugs you couldn't do that so just water uh we did get our clothes clean one of those lucky times by the mama sons from the village well think of what they dried our clothes with Buffalo done
33:45or the buffalo okay they took it put in the pile burnt it and that's how they dried our clothes but really that was a good smell because we blended it in when we're in the jungle I asked uh I I get asked a lot if they were drugs in Vietnam yeah there was drugs we know it why not drugs were legal Mama started to walk around with cigar-shaped marijuana big giant cigars
34:07and they were laced with opium all up and down it's the way of life over there if it wasn't that they were shooting Beetle nut which rotted out all their tea at the same time yeah those those were the days uh time kicked by in Vietnam and all we wanted to know anyway was what's happening in the world the things we're hearing were not too good uh we were being called baby killers by
34:29our friends back home we were told that Americans were rioting and burning down cities and here in Vietnam we're risking our life to save people from BC and the people of this Vietnam we're fearing the VC because there was nothing to see a head cut off on a pole dead bodies in the village like they were too friendly with the Americans yeah we were getting blamed for the things that our enemy was doing
34:55that's we came home it was not a good feeling we're risking our life to save them and this is how we're being talked about back home when I came home it was strange I didn't let anyone know that I was coming home for about a week I walked around Fall River I watched my father going to the bar and it was almost every day I watched my friends and neighbors as they lived their lives
35:13I felt like a ghost and Outsider I didn't feel safe I was in Fall River but felt like I was in Vietnam still I needed to scout out the area before I let people know I was around and alive just because that's the thing you did when you were Vietnam when I finally deal even though I was home was no big deal okay for a couple of days I guess
35:31but after a while I wanted to get back to my fellow Marines who knew what I was thinking and what I was feeling a lot of my friends in Fall River seem to have joined the hippie movement from California a lot of them were doing drugs and not just proper heroin I couldn't figure out what the heck happened to my hometown in the year I was in Vietnam eventually I became Americanized Again
35:51by that I mean I adjusted somewhat to the way things were what we refer to as the world America to us was the world and the many issues uh that I had to deal with because our military service in Vietnam I've never had a full night's sleep despite a sound and I am alert all night long God forbid someone touched my back or shoulders will come behind me when I'm
36:13without me seeing them first many time I have overreacted a couple of people here know about this and I struck them without meaning to my kid used to get a kick out of jumping out from behind doors to scare me because they got a kick out of it seeing me jump that's like a really good reaction at one time I had a grandson go to wake me up in the middle of the night
36:36today I'm growing up 72 year old man and the Dark Knight still affect me in a very negative way um but I thank my family for love me let me love them and uh for all my Vietnam baggage a great cup of communities I've gotten older is to be involved with other veterans and I belong to almost every veteran Organization for whatever I think I am almost the longest if not the
36:59longest member of the DAV James coin our old vso had me joined 1973.
37:07other veterans especially books on the ground backgrounds know without words what each one is thinking they know what you mean when we use the word stinky Dao when our wife's our family so we're trying so stinky dog needs to be crazy okay veterans stick together for the most part and they fight with each other like young men and women in combat do for their beliefs and for their respective units they're always trying
37:29to fight for their own unit it's like a Turf War but we're all fighting for the same thing but there's one thing all Vietnam era and Vietnam War veterans appreciate besides their family it is you every one of you the average non-military American Fall River citizen that remembers our service remember is our brothers in arms to be the ultimate sacrifice including the 23 whose picture upstairs that Michelle mentioned
37:55we went to war on behalf of democracy and the freedom representing our American families and friends we are not all rambos or John Wayne's we got your sons your daughters your parents and can't through the paper yet thank you you got your neighbors and we appreciate you remembering our service and thank goodness for our service we may be now old and we may be physically handicapped
38:21but our hearts and our minds are still wanting and going to serve our communities and the victim groups of Fall River the Vietnam practice was the biggest one I still willing to Service uh provide service and we want to share for any way we can whether it's the mayor's cleanup so building a picnic Park on it uh the old days Beach or any way we can help out we want to because that's what it's
38:40all about we didn't take back our Oaks we got out of the service we still swear that old thing we'll stand by it since 9 11 many people now say thank you to military personnel for their service you'll notice though when you say thank you to a veteran he doesn't say you're welcome he says that's right Al he says thank you you know why because it's we thank you for finally
39:03welcoming us home and Thanking us for our service and I thank you very touching to hear a story a life a history of a person who served in Vietnam and what they felt you know that I go to a lot of veterans events and I I get that from my dad you don't have to be a veteran to feel for a veteran but you know I talked to someone a couple of
39:41weeks ago that told me when he came home from Vietnam when he left his best friend best bud was shot right in front of him and died and he said his death saved my life he has been walking around with that for years and years and years and when he came home he doesn't live in Fall River but he does live in Massachusetts he dug a foxhole in a park and stayed there for four months
40:10wouldn't leave the Foxhole and imagine seeing your best friend be shot in front of you but know that they died to save you the guilt that you must feel the horror that you must feel and then to come home from a war and not have people of this country respect you and thank you and that's why we do this here because Fall River really does care about all veterans and we try our
40:35hottest to always have ceremonies so that we do not forget Bill thank you so much for those words and now I would like to call up father Rob nemkovic who is from the Blessed Trinity Church to do a closing um and he's also a veteran but I was going to say please give him some time he's had surgery let's all say a prayer that that hip kicks in or knee kicks in
41:01and it has he has not stopped
41:12let us pray Lord Our God As We Gather on this National Vietnam War Veterans Day to honor and remember our veterans who served our country in this war we give you thanks for the selfless sacrifice and service of these dedicated men and women who have fought for protected and provided us the freedom we continue to enjoy today we ask your blessings upon them and their families both sacrificed so much
41:43we honor and acknowledge their Devotion to duty and our country in defense of Liberty Justice and Truth showing us the meaning of true patriotism as we honor those veterans who served in Vietnam we pause to remember those 58 000 plus who gave their lives there remember the prisoners of war the missing inaction the 2600 unaccounted for as we remember and honor them may we dedicate ourselves to continue the
42:14Heritage that has been entrusted to us through their service and sacrifice oh God may we also hold each of our current military members and their families always in our love and our prayers until your world is perfected in peace through our Lord Jesus Christ we also ask your blessings on those Who provided and prepared for this important remembrance today as well as all those who continue to
42:39provide care and support for our veterans who have given so much of themselves for us we ask us in your holy name amen Kevin will give us a I'm Kevin Evan will give us a wonderful rendition of God Bless America please sing along with him
43:11God Bless America
43:26through the night with the light from above from the mountains to the Prairie is to the oceans wide with fall for God bless America my home sweet home God bless America my home sweet home I mean yeah Kevin he has just a great voice now we'd like to retire the colors
45:08let's go
45:20thank you