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The Jon Panarese chapter 654 of Vietnam Veterans of America conducted a Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day ceremony at the Lejeune Memorial Gardens, Apr. 29. Marines from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune assisted in the ceremony.
“The mission coming out here today was just to acknowledge the superb service that our Vietnam veterans have given to their country,” said Col. Michael L. Scalise, deputy commander of Marine Corps Installations-East Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. “Camp Lejeune is very fortunate in (having) a lot of Vietnam veterans (in the area.)”
Hundreds gathered for the ceremony. Among the crowd was active duty military, retired military and family members.
“I’m out here today because these is a special thing to me, Vietnam. I am a Vietnam veteran and my heart and soul is with these people. It’s just an honor to be able to come out here and pay tribute to my fallen comrades, my brothers and sisters in arms,” said Stephen Ryan, Vietnam veteran.
Members of Rolling Thunder attended the ceremony. Their members can be veterans, family members or those who are dedicated to having full accountability of prisoners of war and missing in action from all wars.
“I’m with Rolling Thunder because our primary mission is to account for our missing in action and our prisoners of war. We have too many that are unaccounted for,” said Ryan. “The 39 that we remembered today are those that we know of from North Carolina. Back in 2007 there were 41 missing so fortunately we repatriated two.”
During the ceremony 39 service members were remembered. A ‘Missing Man’ table was put up to honor them.
“(The Missing Man table) represents all five branches of service and our civilian contractors who were missing in action or prisoners of war in Vietnam,” said Ryan.
It is a round table with a white table cloth to symbolize unity and purity. On the table is a red rose, symbolizing freedom. The vase is tied with a red ribbon.
“On the plates there is a pinch of lemon to signify the bitterness we all feel, a pinch of salt for the tears we shed for those who are not here to be with us. The glasses are inverted because they will never again share a toast with us,” said Ryan. “(The Missing Man table) is basically why we do what we do. We want to honor those who are gone, those who are missing and those who are unaccounted for.”
City of Jacksonville Mayor Sammy Phillips proclaimed Sat., Apr. 29, 2017 as Vietnam Veteran Recognition Day throughout the city. He urged citizens to thank those veterans and honor those who could not be here today.
The guest of honor at the ceremony was retired Gunnery Sgt. William Stankowski. He served in Vietnam and received two purple hearts and the silver star. During the ceremony, he had encouraging words for service members active, retired and reserve.
“Whether you feel strong or weak, whether you’ve been ill or healthy, all these things matter less than what your heart contains,” said Stankowski. “You are a warrior. You have the heart and the soul of a warrior. All those things are just glass that contain the lamp of your fire. The light inside it is what you are, a warrior. A warrior should never suffer his or her pain in silence reach out to other warriors.”
| Date Taken: | 04.29.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2017 14:44 |
| Story ID: | 233287 |
| Location: | NC, US |
| Web Views: | 22 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Vietnam Vets hold Vietnam Recognition Ceremony, by Sgt Melodie Snarr, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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