Vietnam veterans are finally welcomed, recognized 37 years late

RUMFORD — Vietnam veterans remembered what it was like when they came home from that unpopular war in the 1960s and ’70s.

Some were spat on, some were called child murderers. Others were ignored and many did not wear their service uniform when they traveled home.

On Friday, troops were honored for their service at the first Vietnam War Remembrance Day at the Rumford American Legion as well as many other places across Maine.

“It’s about time,” said Richard Sargent, who grew up in Rumford, joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to Vietnam. He remembered taking off his uniform and putting on civilian clothes when he landed in Los Angeles after his deployment.

Joseph Arsenault of Rumford was also among the 30 or so local Vietnam veterans who was honored with a medal for his service in the U.S. Army.

“This makes me very happy,” he said. “When I came back, there was no recognition. I was never spat on, but I was ignored.”

Arva Quance of Rumford was presented a medal for her service in the U.S. Air Force in Vietnam.

From Maine, 343 service people were killed, and 48,000 served during the Vietnam War.

Other Vietnam veterans expressed the pain of returning through essays and songs.

Al Pelletier, now of Norway, said he was depressed from the time he came home from Vietnam, where he served in the U.S. Navy in 1969, until 1980, when he considered suicide. He wrote a song, which he sang at the end of the three-hour ceremony Friday afternoon.

Titled, “The Wisdom That We Gained,” the song speaks of coming home in disgrace, the pain so many troops were in and no welcoming event for them. The song says today’s youth must never experience another Vietnam, but those who did, were changed from teenage boys to men.

“When I came back, I told no one of my service,” Pelletier said. He said he has sold thousands of copies of the song, with all proceeds going to veterans’ services.

Rumford resident and Oxford County Sheriff Wayne Gallant told the more than 150 people who attended the ceremony that he was asked by a professor to write a journal about forgiveness as part of the classes he took after discharge from the U.S. Army.

“I was just a kid who had put on a uniform. Why didn’t you get to know me before you passed judgment?” he wrote. “You, my fellow Americans, treated me worse than the enemy. Do you realize how you hurt me and thousands of other men in uniform?” he wrote. He ended with, “America, I forgive you.”

Many families of the 16 area young men who were killed in Vietnam were presented with gold star medals. Jeannine McDonald accepted a medal on behalf of her brother, David Thibodeau, from Peter Ogden, director of Maine Veterans Services. Thibodeau, of Rumford, was killed in action in July 1968. Friday was particularly significant for his family because it was his birthday.

Myrtle Milledge, 96, accepted the medal on behalf of her son, Frederick Milledge, of Mexico, who was also killed in July 1968.

State Rep. Sheryl Briggs, D-Mexico, said she was asked to sponsor the Vietnam War Remembrance Day bill by Vietnam veteran Dwight Murphy. She also told of her family’s long tradition of serving in the military, including one of her brothers.

Medals or certificates were also presented to several Korean and Cold War veterans.

U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud, who serves on the Veterans Affairs Committee, said he is co-sponsoring a similar bill at the federal level that would honor and recognize Vietnam War veterans.

“It’s critical to separate the war from the warrior,” he said.

Other groups attending Friday’s event were the Sandy River Young Marines, and the Freeport Flag Ladies, who have waved flags on a bridge every Tuesday in Freeport since Sept. 11, 2011.

Those wishing to get a copy of Pelletier’s Vietnam song, may do so by emailing, [email protected]

Local servicemen who were killed in the Vietnam War were:

Theodore D. Bernard, U.S. Army, March 15, 1968, Mexico

Edward J. Boivin, U.S. Army, Nov. 24, 1966

John H.R. Brooks, U.S. Army, May 13, 1969, Bryant Pond

Hollis W. Buck, U.S. Army, April 27, 1968, West Paris

Philip R. Chaisson, U.S. Army, Feb. 2, 1968, Mexico

Peter L. Dube, U.S. Army, Aug. 2, 1967, Rumford

Thomas B. Ferguson, Marine Corps, March 30, 1968, Rumford

Roger P. Gallant, U.S. Army, Jan. 4, 1967, Mexico

William F. Harrington, U.S. Army, Feb. 8, 1968, South Paris

George W. Harris, U.S. Army, May 26, 1967, Mexico