Subject: March
30 - Vietnam Vets Day
I
just got this e-mail from an Ol' Marine V.N. Vet I served with !
U.S.
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
Richard Burr
Ranking Member
825A
Hart
Senate
Office
Building
•
Washington
,
D.C.
20510
(202)
224-2074 •
FAX (202)
224-8908
http://burr.senate.gov
Senate Declares March 30th as "
Welcome Home
Vietnam
Veterans Day"
Resolution
Introduced by Senator Richard Burr
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
CONTACT:
David Ward
Phone:
Chandler Smith
(202)
224-2074
Washington D.C - The U.S. Senate yesterday declared March
30th as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day," agreeing unanimously to
a resolution introduced by Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Ranking Member
of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
On March 30, 1973, all
U.S.
troops withdrew from
Vietnam
under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. This March 30th, the Senate has
encouraged Americans across the country to recognize
Vietnam
veterans for their sacrifice and demonstrate a warm welcome to these
soldiers who returned from war to a politically divided country.
"I'm pleased that the Senate has agreed to set aside a day to give
our
Vietnam
veterans a warm, long-overdue welcome home. I strongly encourage
communities throughout
North Carolina
and across the country to observe this day with activities and events
that honor these veterans for their service. It's time they receive
the recognition they have earned and deserve. This day also provides our
nation with an important teaching moment. Never again should our men and
women serving in the armed forces receive the same treatment as those
returning from
Vietnam
," said Senator Richard Burr.
Senator Burr introduced the resolution for the second consecutive year
on February 16, 2011. For Senator Burr's remarks on the introduction
of the resolution, click here.
The
United States
became involved in
Vietnam
because policy-makers believed that if
South Vietnam
fell to a communist government, communism would spread throughout the
rest of
Southeast Asia
. The US Armed Forces began serving in an advisory role to the South
Vietnamese in 1961, and in 1965, ground combat troops were sent into
Vietnam
. On March 30, 1973, after many years of combat, all
US
troops withdrew. More than 58,000 members of the United States Armed
Forces lost their lives and more than 300,000 were wounded in
Vietnam
.
Senators John Boozman (R-AR), Thad Cochran (R-MS), James Inhofe (R-OK),
and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Mike Johanns (R-NE) co-sponsored the
legislation. The resolution now moves to the House of
Representatives for consideration.
SEMPER FI
PATRIOT BRUCE BOICE
VETERANS ADVOCATE
MILITARY
ORDER OF THE PURPLE HEART
PA. SR.
VICE COMMANDER
PA.
FIRST RESPONDER CHAIRMAN
CHAPTER
#170 CHAPLIN
1008
MEARNS ROAD WARMINSTER PA 18974
HOME
AND FAX 215-674-4593 CELL 215-833-6031
Hicksville
Vietnam War Era Memorial
57
new names were added in March, bringing the current total to 1,343.
More names continue to come in from the work at the Library and
the continuing contributions of our entire Alumni.
During the past month we continued to succeed in filling in a
number of blanks in the data next to previously recorded names.
You can continue to help with this by scanning the list of names
using your class year or years you may be familiar with to see if you
have something to add.
Memorial Qualifications:
A person must have been on active duty in one of our Armed Forces
during the Vietnam Era. The
person did not necessarily have to serve in Vietnam, because by being in
service at that time he or she faced the possibility of being sent to
Vietnam and was an integral part of strengthening our Armed Forces
during a time of war.
Overall
qualifications include:
- must have been a
resident of
Hicksville
at some time before entering our Armed Forces
- must have attended a
public, private or parochial high school while living in
Hicksville
(attendance at HHS not required)
- must have served on
active duty anywhere in the world during
America
's Vietnam Era (1961-1973 per the www.vietnamwar.com
history timeline)
- Both men and women
qualify (We're stating this as we still have very few women
on the current list)
While
we have accumulated 1,343 names, we know there are still more people out
there who served and meet these qualifications, but have yet to be
identified. Rough estimates
indicate we should be able to collect between 2 and 3 thousand names.
We have access to official records in
Washington
,
D.C.
but have found that many people left
Hicksville
before entering the service and show a different town or city as their
home at the time of entry. So, we need to continue this grass
roots effort and will also continue to use official records as a means
of confirmation of all personnel on the list.
Our
Project Team consists of the following members:
·
Ken Strafer, Founder (HHS
'62)
·
Joe Carfora, Master List (HHS
'62)
·
Carl Probst, Input Data,
Class of '59 & Others (HHS '59)
·
Tony Plonski, Input Data,
Class of '64 & Others (HHS '64)
·
Tommy Sullivan, Press
Release Editing (HHS '63)
·
Walter Schmidt, Hicksville
Local Coordinator & Town of
Oyster Bay
Veterans Services Officer (HHS '65)
·
Joe Ingino, Veterans
Advocate, Hicksville &
Long Island
(HHS '67)
·
Jay Tranchina, Input Data,
Class of '64 & Others, plus local press contact (HHS 1964)
·
Bill Walden, Commander of
Hicksville
VFW Post (HHS '65)
Here's what we continue to need from each person reading this to
do:
Please
click on the following link and review the current list of names: Click
Here
If
you know of someone who is not listed, or if you have information we are
still missing, please send what you have to Joe Carfora at jcarfora1@nc.rr.com.
Please use the information contained on the current list as a
guide for the data we need.
With the tremendous growth our
list has seen over the past number of months, it continues to be very
important for interested Alumni to review the list of classmates names
with the hope of supplying us with the information we are still missing
next to the names of many individuals.
The missing information is marked in red with question marks on
the spreadsheet to make it simpler for you to see what's needed.
Thank
you!
The
Vietnam War Era Memorial Project Team
Footnote extracted from www.vietnamwar.com:
During 15 years of military involvement, over 2 million Americans
served in
Vietnam
with 500,000 seeing actual combat. 47,244 were killed in action,
including 8000 airmen. There were 10,446 non-combat deaths. 153,329 were
seriously wounded, including 10,000 amputees. Over 2400 American
POWs/MIAs were unaccounted for as of 1973.
The Ladies Auxiliary
My son told me how
wonderful the care packages we had sent to him and his fellow Marines
serving in the war zone, from the ladies auxiliary, were. And he wanted
me to tell everyone thank you.
He said that one guy we'll call Marine X, got a "female care
package" and everyone was giving him a hard time. My son said, 'Marine
X got some really nice smelling lotion and everyone really likes it, so
every time he goes to sleep, they steal it from him.' I told my son I
was really sorry about the mistake. If he wanted, I would send Marine X
another package. He told me not to worry about Marine X because every
time I send something to him, he shares it with Marine X.
He said when my husband and I sent the last care package; Marine X
came over to his cot picked up the box, started fishing through it, and
said, 'What'd we get this time?'
But my son said they had the most fun with Marine X's package. He
said he wasn't sure who it was supposed to go to, but the panties were
size 20, and he said one of the guys got on top of the Humvee and jumped
off with the panties over his head and yelled, 'Look at me, I'm an
Airborne Ranger!!!!'
One of the guys attached the panties to an antenna and it blew in
the wind like a windsock. He said it entertained them for quite awhile.
Then of course.......they had those tampons. When he brought this up, my
imagination just went running, but he continued.
My son said they had to go on a mission and Marine X wanted the
Chap-Stick and lotion for the trip. He grabbed a bunch of the items from
his care package and got in the Humvee. As luck would have it he grabbed
the tampons too, and my son said everyone was teasing him about 'not
forgetting his feminine hygiene products.'
He said things went well for a while, then the convoy was ambushed
and a Marine was shot. He said the wound was pretty clean, but it was
deep. He said they were administering first aid but couldn't get the
bleeding to slow down, and someone said, 'Hey! Use Marine X's tampons!'
My son said they put the tampon in the wound. At this point my son
profoundly told me, 'Mom, did you know that tampons expand?'
('Well....yeah!')
They successfully slowed the bleeding until the guy got better
medical attention. When they went to check on him later, the surgeon
told them, 'You guys saved his life. If you hadn't stopped that bleeding
he would have bled to death.' My Son said, 'Mom, the tampons sent by the
Marine Moms by mistake saved a Marine's life.'
At this point I asked him, 'Well, what did you do with the rest of
the tampons?'
He said, 'Oh, we divided them up and we all have them in our
flak jackets, and I kept two for our first aid kit.'
I am absolutely amazed by the ingenuity of our Marines. I can't
believe that something that started out as a mistake then turned into a
joke, ended up saving someone's life. My sister said she doesn't believe
in mistakes. She believes God had a plan all along. She believes that
'female care package' was sent to Marine X to save our Marine.
Either way, our efforts have boosted the morale of many Marines,
provided much needed items for our troops, AND saved the life of a
Marine! God bless every one of you for your efforts and hard work, and
God bless our Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force and all our military
service personnel.
GOD BLESS
AMERICA
AND KEEP IT SAFE!
To access a huge list of veteran related websites
that offer assistance, visit http://buffalobobcasale.com
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