PORT ANGELES — Military veterans from every generation gathered in Port Angeles on Wednesday to pay their respects during the second Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.
More than 100 veterans and their families packed the Clallam County Veterans Center on Francis Street for a one-hour ceremony that featured a rifle salute, a symbolic Prisoners of War-Missing in Action table and the folding of a U.S. flag as the names of 11 local veterans who died in combat were read with every fold.
The statewide observance was initiated by Norman Goodin of Port Angeles.
Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a proclamation last month declaring March 30 as Welcome Home Veterans Day, saying it marks the 36th anniversary of the end of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war.
Martin Arnold, president of the Clallam County Veterans Association and a Navy commander during Vietnam, served as the master of ceremonies.
“On behalf of the 13 veterans organizations and their auxiliaries here in the county, I’d like to welcome you guys home,” Arnold said.
“If you look around, you’ll see a lot of Korean War veterans here today, you’ll see a lot of WWIIs and, of course, the Vietnamese veterans.
“That says something about the veterans in the county. We can have a get-together, and veterans from all eras show up to honor one another. I think it’s great.”
Goodin, who returned from the Vietnam War in 1968, mounted a one-year effort to dedicate a ceremonial day for Vietnam veterans in 2009.
“Since then, almost all of the states have adopted Vietnam welcome-home days,” Arnold said.
On March 17, the U.S. Senate recognized March 30 as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, Arnold said.
Goodin thanked his fellow veterans and the people who helped organize the event. He quoted a Latin verse that translates as: “If you wish for peace, be prepared for war.”
Before and after the ceremony, the Clallam County veterans shared stories over lunch and coffee.
It gave Bill Larson, an Army veteran who fought in Korea, and Richard Hammer, a Navy veteran who fought in Vietnam, a chance to catch up.
“I think it’s most appropriate to do this,” Larson said.
After he was drafted, Larson said, he “hated it for two weeks.”
“Then, I got into it and stayed for 38 years,” he said.
Tammy Sullenger, Clallam County veterans coordinator, said Wednesday’s turnout exceeded last year’s for Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.
“It worked out really well,” Sullenger said.
Port Angeles High School student Jessalyn Rogers played taps during the ceremony.
A group of students from Stevens Middle School were among the attendees.
Commissioner Mike Doherty and Administrator Jim Jones represented Clallam County government at the event.
Sullenger said all are invited to gather at Veterans Memorial Park on Lincoln Street the last Friday of every month for the 1 p.m. bell ringing ceremony.
The names of Clallam County veterans who died that month are read one by one with each ringing of the bell.
According to the governor’s proclamation, more than 58,000 service members made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam. As of last month, 1,702 Americans were still missing and unaccounted for.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
