VIETNAM VETERANS DAY

It was a full house at Medford VFW Post 5729 on Saturday, March 29 for the ceremony marking National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Cold and rain forced the ceremony indoors.

Marine veteran Bill Vach, who served in the Vietnam War, was the master of ceremonies for the day and shared information about the important role that women veterans had during the Vietnam War. Over 265,000 American women served in the military during the Vietnam War era, with approximately 11,000 serving in Vietnam itself, mostly as nurses in the Army, Navy and Airforce Nurse Corps. Dave Goessl, of the American Legion honor guard, gave the opening and closing prayer.

Speakers for the event included Wisconsin VFW Jr Vice Commander Renee Simpson, an Army veteran from Post 10911 at Camp Douglas, and Vietnam veteran Dave Zien of Eau Claire.

Simpson spoke of the work the VFW has done to help all veterans and especially those from the Vietnam War and highlighted the role of nurses in Vietnam. Zien spoke about the victories that the American military had in Vietnam and that all veterans who served during the conflict should be proud. He also spoke of ongoing efforts to serve Vietnam veterans and ensure their legacy is not forgotten. He also called up four local veterans who rode with him on buses in 1982 for the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The wall memorializes the 58,318 American service members killed in the war. The ceremony ended with the playing of Taps and a lunch was provided for veterans and their families.

Pictures by Brian Wilson Page Layout by Lydia Ploeckelman