Vietnam Veterans Given a Warm “Welcome Home” During Sea Isle Ceremony

Steve Burns didn’t encounter any hostility when he returned home from the Vietnam War, but he knows of other veterans who received an angry reception.

“Some of my friends were spit on and called baby killers,” Burns recalled, shaking his head in disbelief.

That difficult memory came rushing back to him on Saturday when Sea Isle City commemorated National Vietnam War Veterans Day with a poignant ceremony at Veterans Park.

The ceremony offered a stark contrast to the way the country treats its veterans as heroes these days, but viewed them as outcasts during the tumultuous Vietnam era.

Nearly 60 years after he returned from Vietnam in 1966, Burns said the ceremony made him feel “warm.” He expressed hope that other Vietnam veterans felt the same way.

“The veterans today are finally starting to get the recognition they deserve,” he said in an interview after the ceremony.

    Vietnam War veterans stand for a group photo at Veterans Park after the ceremony.
  

Burns, 82, is a U.S. Army veteran who served as a helicopter crew chief during the war.  He saw combat during his tour of duty from September 1965 to September 1966.

During remarks at Saturday’s ceremony, Burns, a trustee of Sea Isle’s VFW Post 1963, asked the audience to think about the more than 58,000 U.S. service members who were killed during the war.

“The heroes are the 58,000 who made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said.

Sea Isle is one of the few communities that commemorate National Vietnam War Veterans Day every year, Mayor Leonard Desiderio noted. Desiderio said it is important to treat the Vietnam veterans “as royalty.”

“I am certain that everyone here today would agree that our Vietnam veterans are among this nation’s most worthy patriots, because, in addition to leaving behind their loved ones to fight a grueling war in a faraway land, they also had to face extreme weather, dangerous terrain and an enemy who often could not be seen through the dense jungles of Southeast Asia,” Desiderio said in keynote remarks.

    Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio delivers keynote remarks.
  

Desiderio also said that Americans who were not part of the war cannot possibly comprehend “what challenges and heartaches our veterans faced or the emotions they carried home with them when the battle was over.”

“Even though many of us here today may not be able to fully understand what our Vietnam veterans went through – or what any veteran of a foreign war experienced – we can prove that we care about them by supporting veterans’ organizations and making sure that all veterans have the resources they need to live happy and productive lives,” Desiderio said.

Underscoring the huge loss of American lives during the war, both Desiderio and VFW Post 1963 Auxiliary President Peggy Moore mentioned the 58,320 service members whose names are etched into the granite panels that comprise the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“58,320 – I want you to remember that number,” Moore told the audience.

During the ceremony, Burns presented a wreath decorated in red, white and blue flowers to City Councilman William Kehner as a floral tribute to the Vietnam veterans.

    Members of the VFW Post 1963 honor guard display the colors.
  

The ceremony also included the reciting of prayers by United Methodist Church Pastor Melissa Doyle-Waid, the singing of patriotic songs led by Kathy Wilson and the solemn sounds of a bagpipe played by Sea Isle volunteer firefighter Ron Taylor.

Pastor Doyle-Waid noted that her late father was a Vietnam veteran who was presented with a Quilt of Honor from the Quilts of Valor Foundation. The hand-stitched quilts are intended to symbolically comfort veterans who have been “touched by war.”

The Quilt of Honor made her father feel like he was being welcomed home from the war, Pastor Doyle-Waid said. She voiced hope that Sea Isle’s National Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremony would make other veterans feel “cared for.”

    Sea Isle volunteer firefighter Ron Taylor plays the bagpipes.
  

    Members of the VFW Post 1963 Auxiliary stand during the playing of the national anthem.
  

    VFW Post 1963 Auxiliary President Peggy Moore reminds the audience of the terrible loss of American lives during the Vietnam War.
  

    Members of the audience observe a moment of silence.