CHARLESTON, W.Va. — “Thank you for your service” and “welcome home” were phrases heard often Wednesday at the State Capitol where the sun was shining during the 5th Annual West Virginia Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day.
“Anybody we walk by, it’s ‘welcome home,’ (we shake) their hand, give them a hug and thank them for their service,” said David Simmons, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America West Virginia chapter.
He served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971 and said, upon his return to the United States, such appreciation was rare.
“It was right after Desert Storm, that’s when we started getting the recognition as Vietnam veterans,” Simmons said. “Before that, hardly any of us even told people we were veterans because it was a shameful thing back then.”
More than 36,500 West Virginians served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam Era, according to information from the Vietnam Veterans of America.
Official records show 732 of those West Virginia residents were killed during the Vietnam War, but those with the Vietnam Veterans of America in the Mountain State have indicated the actual death total is most likely 1,104 due to the number of state residents who moved elsewhere before serving, changing their home state of record.
It was the highest soldier death rate during the Vietnam War, VVA officials said.
“We want to remember those who lost their lives in Vietnam, that’s No. 1, and, No. 2, those who were wounded and also remember all of our friends that we served with and the contributions that Vietnam veterans made to this country, not only during the War, but since they’ve returned home,” said Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Works of America.
Roberts, a Vietnam veteran, was the keynote speaker for Wednesday’s Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day. He served with the U.S. Army’s 167th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division based out of Chu Lai, Vietnam in 1967 and 1968.
Simmons served with the same unit in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971.
On behalf of his fellow veterans, he and others are pushing for the passage of the Toxic Exposure Research Act on Capitol Hill. With it, a VA medical clinic would be designated to serve as the national center for research on the diagnosis and treatment of health conditions of the descendants of people possibly exposed to toxic substances, like Agent Orange, while serving in the Armed Forces.
Richard Pack from Welch is a U.S. Army veteran who served from 1979 to 1983. Though he did not serve in Vietnam, he was out in Charleston Wednesday to be part of the day dedicated to those who did.
“Especially with Vietnam era vets, so many of them were overlooked when they came back. They put up with a lot of stuff that they shouldn’t have put up with,” Pack told MetroNews.
“There’s a lot of men and women who sacrificed an awful lot for this country that we take for granted, so anything, I feel, that we can do to show our support and our thanks, I think we need to.”
Fifty years later, “People recognize the courage and the valor and the contributions the Vietnam veterans made to this country,” Robert said.