4.30.2025 - End of the Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Ceremony

Before I begin the official uh ceremony today, I just want to share a few incidents that occurred last week, I happen to be at Oh, by the way, I'm Justin Latini. I'm the regional one VVA director for New England and also the local president of chapter 207. Uh I happened to be in uh was invited to get down to Washington last week and we were laying the wreath. uh each state was laying a wreath at the

wall and it was it was a great ceremony and we were sitting facing toward the wall like you you are and there were you know when you're out in Washington you have all these tours these young young people they're 8 n 12 years old they're coming to the wall they're being educated about um our heroes who are on the wall and as we were looking out the program began and it began with the

pledge allegiance and then we had the national anthem and and a prayer And halfway through the prayer, the gentleman next to me said to me, "Are you seeing what I am seeing?" And every student took their hat off and stood silently during the national anthem during they said the pledge of allegiance. And as everybody was kind of breaking up and walking away, we began with another uh segment of the program

for the prayer. and they all took their caps off and it was just amazing to see these young people who sometimes we don't give a lot of credit to um the respect that we were paid um at the wall last Thursday. And so I just wanted to share that with you. Sometimes we can be a little cynical, just a little. Um, but there are there is a generation coming up who I think is going to understand

uh what we did, our generation of veterans uh not only the sacrifice but how we changed the way veterans are viewed. And before again in the opening prayer, um I just want to expound on that just a little bit about another thing that was relayed to us that when your name is no longer spoken, you are forgotten. And so someone asked me, when you go to the wall, if you see a name

and you don't know them, put your hand on the name and speak their name out loud. And when you do that, they will never be forgotten. So I would ask before we leave at the end of the program, if you'd all take a moment and go to the wall, find a name on the wall and say that name out loud so that veteran will live on forever. And I think that's the least

that we can do to show the respect of the 58,478 men and eight women that are here on the wall. Again, we'll be back here in Memorial Day to do our ceremonies and memorialize those who have left. But today is a celebration. It's a celebration for those of us who are here today to continue our legacy as Vietnam veterans.

We are all Vietnam War veterans. Seven nine million of us served during the Vietnam conflict. 2.6 million served in country and 7 million served around the world. And in my travels, sometimes I will have a veteran say, "I don't feel like a veteran because I didn't go to combat." And I' I've told this story before, some of you have heard it.

Except this time, I happened to talk to someone down in Washington, and he explained that his unit was sent to Germany. And he remembers writing home, telling his parents that it was like hitting the lottery. My unit is in Germany for the next three years. And 30 days later, he was called in, and his unit was sent into Vietnam.

So all of us went where they told us to go. We did what they told us to do and we served honorably. And every veteran should be very proud of their service no matter where or when they served. And for those of you who may have got a program, you know that Vietnam Veterans of America, our national motto is never again will one generation of veterans abandon another. Well, we live true to

that. It was the Iraqi veterans and the Desert Storm veterans who were greeted by Vietnam veterans on the tarmac. We told them that their service mattered and we thanked them and welcomed them home. They will never know what we felt when we came home. Whether you served in Newport, Rhode Island or in play or Germany or another base around the world, when we came home, we were all treated the same way. not only by our

peers, but by other veterans before us.

And so our national motto is never again will we abandon the next generation of veterans. And I'm hoping that 25 years from now during a ceremony, there'll be veterans here talking about our legacy.

It was our generation of veterans who got the P flag to fly under the American flag. It was our generation of veterans who ensured that it's okay not to be okay to talk openly about mental health. And it was our generation, for those of you who've been around a little bit, if you remember going to the VA 30 years ago, you wouldn't go. I wouldn't bring my dog there to be treated. Today,

the VA system is one of the best systems in the world. And it's because of you, all of you, who have lobbied and who have told them that we need better healthcare. Unfortunately, Vietnam veterans is the highest rate of suicide in this country. Think about that. Our age, our average age is 78. We need to make sure our fellow veterans are okay. in Westport and 40 other coffees around the south coast. We hold coffees.

It's for veterans. Doesn't matter when you serve, where you serve, to get together and have a cup of coffee. But there's a bigger reason why we do that.

For me personally, it's for me to check in on my members I haven't seen in a while to make sure they're okay.

As I close out my opening remarks here today, I just want to remind you that 50 years ago, it was an official end of the war.

April 29th was the last two casualties. And also the memorial behind you for Agent Orange. We know that hundreds of thousands came home and are dying from those unforeseen toxins they were exposed to.

So, at this time, I'd like to bring up Father Phil, our national VVA chaplain, to read the opening prayer.

This one, this one. This one. Good afternoon, everyone. Don't get old.

Let us pray. Oh, my glasses. Can't see without them. Thank you.

Merciful God, we are gathered together this special day to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which officially ended the war and our involvement in the Vietnam War. We take this precious time to honor America's veterans, especially those who 50 years ago began by answering our nation's call to the Vietnam War. They answered that call willingly or by draft letter from varied

circumstances while among ma among family, friends, school halls, farm fields, enterprises, arts and athletics.

They were asked to risk all for the sake of freedom to inter to intervene for a country which could no longer defend itself from the atrocities taken hold in the north. Precious was the gift of life they gave in Vietnam. For the 58,318 who gave all, we stop and grieve their departure.

We thank you for the precious gift of their lives. For the multiplied thousands who continue on grieving their absence, we ask you to comfort, heal, and bring joy. You showed us that no greater love has anyone than this, that a man would lay down his life for his friend. So for those dreams cut short in jungle, prolonged rainy days and fighting nights, we dream again. Remember your aid to us in this

endeavor, especially upon disabled and wounded veterans. Fill them with new strength and for the missing or prisoners of war that they may be found and returned to us.

We want to work for the cause of justice, peace, and freedom. Especially for the weak. Help us, oh God, in this way. We can honor you and bless these fallen and bless this beautiful country, America, for whom they gave their last breath. We make this prayer in your holy name of Jesus Christ. Amen. And father, son, holy ghost. Amen.

recover. This time we're going to salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Please be seated. At this time, I would like to bring up Jane Vanisen, who has a poem she'd like to share with us.

Good afternoon. My name is Jane Vanisen and I am a gold star mother. On July 5th, 2004, my son was killed in action.

Um, and not long after my son was killed, I wrote a poem to remember him and remember our other veterans and soldiers. And I call it remember me. Remember me with smiles and laughter. For that's how I will remember you. If you only remember me with tears and sorrow, then don't remember me at all. Our brave soldiers will be remembered for their love of life and the love for their country. God bless

America, land of the free. And look around you, home of all our brave. So tonight, when you go home and you wrap that blanket of freedom around you, remember all the brave men and women who have fought for us in the past. And remember all the brave men and women that are fighting for us so that we can be here today. And remember all the brave men and women who have fought and

died so that we can sleep free. My name is Jane Vanisen and I'm a proud gold star mother. Thank you.

Thank you Jane.

This time I'd like to bring up veteran service officer from Fall River, Talis Ferris.

Thank you, Justin, for the for the uh invite to speak here today and also for the opportunity to express myself when it concerns the Vietnam War. Good afternoon everyone. It is a deep honor to stand with you today at Bsentennial Park beside our very own Vietnam Memorial Wall as we mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

A moment not just historical insignificance, but of profound emotional and moral importance to our country and especially to the brave men and women who served. As a director of veteran services for the city of Fall River, I carry with me not just a title, but a responsibility. A responsibility to ensure that no generation of veteran is ever overlooked or forgotten.

And I say that especially to those who wore the uniform during the Vietnam War because the truth is when you came home, America did not honor you as it should have. That failure still echoes through time and it is our collective duty to make sure it is never going to happen again.

But here in Fall River, we remember. We remember in stone and in ceremony. We remember through the names etched on this wall, through the work of Vietnam veterans and the chapter 207 VVA.

And through the continuous presence of a community that will never stop honoring their heroes, we remember the long nights, the unforgiving terrain, the battle seen and unseen that you all faced. We remember the brothers and sisters lost to the burdens carried and the silence many of you endured.

Behind every uniform was a young man and a young woman who did what their nation asked of them and not so without courage or without commitment or without honor. Today is not only looking back.

It is about affirming right here at this sacred place that your service mattered. That your sacrifices shape the freedom we enjoy today. that your stories, so often left untold, are finally being heard, honored, and held in revery by a grateful city and a grateful nation. To the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 2, thank you for keeping this history alive. Thank you for your leadership and your

resilience, but most of all, for your unbreakable brotherhood. And to every Vietnam veteran here today, welcome home. Welcome home 50 years later, but with the full measure of respect and gratitude and honor that you deserve. Thank you, and may God bless the city of Fall River and the United States of America. Thank you very much. At this time, I would like to bring up Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan to say a few

words. This wall represents the commitment the city of Fall River made to honor the people that gave the ultimate sacrifice in the Vietnam War.

Fall River remembers all of its veterans and by the crowd that turned out to here today, it shows that the city cares and wants to make sure we keep their memories alive and we never forget. The work that went into building this memorial, whether it was the Iroima or the wall behind me, took years and years and years of planning and hard work to make sure those people who did give the

I I honor them. They're the reason we have this country that we have today.

And I'll never forget what they've done to make us allow us all to be here today. Thank you all very, very much.

Thank you,

Mayor. Somebody's phone's going off. This time I would like to bring up Pat McCrory. She was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and spent her childhood years in Medford, Mass. She went to St. Clement High School in Boston in in Boston City Hospital School of Nursing. She worked at the General Hospital in Somerville and Boston City Hospital, Boston. Pat J then joined the US Army Nurse Corps. She completed her

basic training at Fort Sam Houston in San Anton, Texas and made the courageous and selfish decision to go to Vietnam.

Pat was an operating room nurse in Daang Vietnam from September 69 to October 1970. She was a nurse at the Smash Unit, which is a semi-mobile army surgical hospital. The unit received the wounded soldiers directly off from the helicopters. They worked around the clock and sometimes were sent into the villages to help the people. I am honored to introduce First Lieutenant Army nurse Pat

McCrory. So unlike a lot of speakers here today, I'm not used to speaking. So I have some notes. And uh first of all, I want to thank the veterans, family members, and guests for attending this 50th anniversary of when the last troops left Vietnam actually on April 30th. Um and I'd like to tell you a little bit about my my story, and I think he already took the thunder away, but uh just a little background.

Um I grew up in the 60s and I was in high school when John F. Kennedy got assassinated.

And it was the phrase that really kind of stuck with me was ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. So it became ingrained in me and it was an era era of patriotism. My father was in the army. I had an uncle that was in the the navy. And so I grew up under the foundation of God and country. And after graduating from

nursing school, I went into the army.

And as he told you, I I was in Port Sam Houston, volunteered to go to Vietnam. I spent a few months uh before I went to Vietnam at Port Benning and Georgia where I attended operating room school so that I could know all the techniques that was going to be needed for me when I went over to Vietnam as an operating room nurse.

Um, I'll skip over all the details of what happened in Vietnam, but I'll go to when I came back from Vietnam. And that's why I think what the Veterans Organization is doing now is to help remember those veterans who served that weren't acknowledged when they came back. But I came back late one night and you know I might have arrived in San Francisco at about 11 o'clock at night

was in my uniform and I rented a car. I had a couple of classmates from nursing school who was stationed in Mterrey. My plan was to visit them. I had an aunt and uncle that lived in the LA area to visit them on the west coast before I went back to the east coast to my family. So, I'm driving from San Francisco to Mterrey. I get stopped by the police and it was um said

I was speeding and I could have been I might have been speeding. I was anxious to see my friends in Mterrey and in Vietnam I wasn't allowed to drive. So, I hadn't driven a car in over a year, not thinking about it. But, you know, I explained my situation, how I just had come back. My license had expired, but I had 30 days to get a new license once I

was home. And he made me get out of the car and walk a line like I was some drunk or something. And then when I got back in the car, he he handed me a ticket and he said, "Uh, where can I send the appearance to the notice to appear in court?" And I gave him my aunt and uncle's address. And I went on to see my friends And uh I think they might have been

expecting me earlier because like at 3:00 in the morning I'm banging on their door and they're wondering who's who's at the door at that hour. But you know I got the notice when I got to my aunt and uncles in um in LA area. And I looked at I says I'm not going to court to court.

I'm going home. And there was a a chance to pay the fine. So I just sent them the money and I went home. Um, but you know, we had heard about protests and you know, the sentiment back home, but I didn't realize the way veterans were treated until I experienced that myself.

And yeah, I wasn't like some of the soldiers that got spit on and stuff like that. But still it just to me showed some disrespect um you know for somebody who had come back who was in my mind you know over there helping soldiers who were injured.

Those soldiers didn't want to be there either. and um you know saving lives and it it just always stuck with me and so you know I've just uh sorry I'm going away from the microphone here but um today it's acceptable and it's proud to be of service and the Vietnam veterans as well as anyone that came after them are getting recognized and appreciated for their service. There's a different attitude at this time. And

this 50th anniversary when we remember those veterans and thank them for their service, there's a different sense. And I'm so happy to see everybody here.

Justin reminded me that I'm at the average age of veterans when I turned 78 this year. But um thank you for your service and welcome home, brothers and sisters.

Thank you, Pat. I'm next time you have me speak, I'm gonna have you speak longer. At this time, it is my honor to call up Sergeant Major Harry Theion, enlisted in the Marine Corps December 65. He received his orders to go to Vietnam in April of ' 67 and was assigned to the third battalion 19th Marines. While serving in his first duty in NAM, he participated in operations against North Vice along the DMZ zone.

After two years of duty in 1970, he received orders to return to Vietnam for his second tour. Upon returning to Vietnam, he was assigned to platoon sergeant with the first MP battalion.

His retirement from service in 1992 as a sergeant major and director of the Marine Marine Corps staff non-commissioned officer academy at Quantico, Virginia completes his distinguished career. His personal military de decorations include the Legion of Merit, two purple heart medals, two metritorious thank you service medals, two Navy Marine Achievement Medals, and the Combat Action Ribbon along with

several other service and campaign medals. I would like now to bring up Sergeant Major Harry Theion.

Well, first of all, you don't want to hear how many times I've been stopped by the police. It take take forever. But uh yeah, firstname basis. But I I do want to recognize uh the nurses, doctors, all the medics that sort of does in Vietnam, the aid stations, the hospitals aboard the hospital ships. Uh, I also want to say you have to love those medevac helicopter pilots who would often come down during combat to

retrieve the wounded. Uh, it was often enough you'd see bullet holes riddled through those helicopters. And I can tell you those particular people saved thousands of lives through their caring, their dedication, uh, and their bravery.

Otherwise, this wall, believe me, would have been much longer. much longer. So, we're at 50 years and as it's already stated, when you're the last speaker, you pretty much have nothing else to say. You know, it's already been said, but I'll uh I'll push forward and and try to reiterate some things because I know a lot of you who are our age uh served in Vietnam and it's it's very it's very meaningful.

But uh the two years that I served in Vietnam, I can honestly tell you that I I never considered uh the end of the war in Vietnam. Never never thought about it. You know, we all hoped for it and considered it, but uh it just wasn't, you know, in the forefront of our minds.

you know, your daily daily thoughts were around staying alive, you know, doing your job and in my case, protecting my fellow Marines. So, like most of you who served in Vietnam, we used to keep a short time's calendar. If you remember that every day you mark off a day that was one less day in Nam and one day getting closer back to the world as we called it, back to the United States, back to

our families and friends. And that's what we did. We know the tour of duty for most military was 12 months. Uh for Marines it was 13 months. And I to yet I haven't figured that out, but that's what the tours of duty were.

So, we did our duty. We came home and and we know what a tragedy that was. As I already stated, uh we weren't recognized as heroes as our military members are recognized now. Uh due to incidents in Vietnam, uh for those of you who served and and maybe those of you who are our age, you remember the Lieutenant Cali at Mai incident. We called it a the Mi massacre, but after

that uh it seemed that everyone who served in Vietnam was considered a baby killer. Uh I never saw any babies being killed and I only heard of it once and that was at that Mai massacre. So it was not a very popular war and those of us who had to fight it were not very popular people.

Most Vietnam veterans after the war came back had difficulty finding jobs, had difficulty transferring or transitioning to civilian life. Some, like myself, stayed in the military. Those of us who stayed in the military found ourselves going back for the second and some on their third tour.

So we struggled for 12 or 13 months and and went home. And as time passed, it seemed that that 12 or 13 month tour would become a lifelong struggle.

Even after the war had ended, we had thousands of veterans that were dying from wounds that they had received during combat. After the war ended, we had thousands of veterans dying from exposure to Agent Orange. And as stated, we had thousands of veterans uh taking their own lives and losing the battle against PTSD or alcohol abuse or drug abuse.

And even up to this day, to this day, we have thousands of veterans who still suffer from exposure to Agent Orange, you know, various cancers, uh, leukemia, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and the list just goes on and on.

And sadly enough, it uh it took over 40 years for someone to come up to a a Vietnam veteran and say, "Thank you for your service." And when I hear that, I appreciate it. But sometimes, uh, I have a little angel in the back of my head that says, "I wish somebody said that to me 50 years ago." So, the thank yous, you know, they're appreciated.

the respected, honored, but the people who deserve the thank yous are the names that are on this wall, over 58,000. Those are the people that deserve a thank you. And not only American men and women, and some were teenagers who lied about their age just to get to Vietnam. But there were also several countries who participated. veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice. You know, veterans from places like South Korea,

New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, the Philippines, they should be recognized as well. And I'll leave you with this.

During my career in the Marine Corps, I had the privilege of serving with hundreds of Vietnam veterans, mostly senior NCOs, senior officers, and once in a while we'd get together on occasion, and we'd talk about our service in Vietnam, uh the units we were with, some of the things we saw, some of the things we may have remembered. And on one occasion, this first sergeant told me, he said, "Uh,

Sergeant Major, the one thing I learned about Vietnam, and I relate this to every branch of the service, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard." He said, "The one thing about Vietnam is that you could take the Marine out of Vietnam, but you'll never take Vietnam out of the Marine." God bless you all. Thank you.

Thank you for your attention.

At this time, we're going to uh have the uh laying of the wreath with the gold star wives and members and honor guard.

Why don't you get ready at this time?

Prepare. Could we have some gold star Marian?

As we close out today with the uh closing prayer, we will end the ceremony with the honor guard performing military honors and followed by taps. And at the end of taps, that will be the program.

Don Albert, VVA 207, Chaplain, please uncover.

Almighty God, our heavenly father, with reverence and love, we have paused today to reflect on the ending of the Vietnam War and to remember the ultimate sacrifices of our servicemen and women and their families. We also we also remembered those all those who served during the Vietnam War in attempt to bring lasting peace to South Vietnam. Heavenly Father, we commend to your gracious care

and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Watch over them with your heavenly grace.

strengthen and guide them. Give them the strength and courage to face the perils which they may confront and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be. Help us to establish a land of continued freedom and justice. Hasten the day when all the nations will dwell together in peace.

guide. We ask the president of the United States and all those in authority, especially those responsible for the direction of our armed forces.

May they have the wisdom and strength that alone can come from you. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

That was uh Colonel Donald Albert. I wanted to make sure he got his title.

Honor God. At this time, please perform your duties.

Bugler sound taps. Come

on.

That concludes the ceremony. Thank you all for coming out today.