Politics & Government

A Welcome Home and Thank You to Vietnam Vets

Hundreds attended an emotional Veterans Day ceremony Friday despite cool, wet weather.

Poignant remembrances told by veterans themselves—some stories so painful to relive—and those told by families left behind by fallen soldiers, bathed a Memorial Park audience already dampened by Friday's rain.

In honor of a l temporarily erected in the park, special tribute was paid to veterans of the Vietnam War in Cupertino's annual Veterans Day celebration, along with marks of respect for all military personnel.

"Never again will any of our vets turn their backs on another generation," said Col. William Peacock, a veteran of the Vietnam War.

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Peacock's reference to the bitter way vets were treated when they returned from deployment was the theme for the day's events. In her speech Sandy James, president of the Cupertino Veterans Memorial and former mayor of Cupertino, said what should have been iterated to the veterans decades ago; "Welcome home, and thank you."

City Manager , a retired U.S. Air Force captain and Vietnam veteran, spoke about the meaning of the war and the dedication of those who serve in the military.

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"We are here to reflect on the fact that people are willing to serve and bleed and die to protect us," he said.

The wall which arrived in Cupertino Nov. 9 and departed Sunday was escorted from Gilroy by more than 100 motorcyclists, members of the Patriot Guard and a good number of Vietnam vets in a line which riders said stretched up to a mile-and-a-half along Highway 85 en route. (Accompanying this article is a City of Cupertino timelapse video of the wall being erected.)

Though aluminum, not granite, and smaller in scale—the traveling wall is 80 percent to scale of the original in Washington, D.C., and has etched onto it the names of 58,253 troops who died in the war—this traveling wall's emotional command is large.

Vietnam vets stood reverent before the wall, some too choked with emotion to speak. Some took pencil rubbings of the names of men they fought beside who didn't come home with them. Others moved close to the wall and ran their fingers across the names of those they knew.

Among the events of the ceremony included flowers placed at The Guardians sculpture by the families of Matthew Axelson and James Suh, the Navy SEALS for whom the sculpture honors, and a Vietnam memorial boulder was unveiled. Wreaths were placed by the park's Wall of Honor and by the traveling wall, both escorted by veterans.

Other events of the day included a bagpipe performance of "Amazing Grace" by , a parade of honor guards by the Joint Services Military Color Guard, Fire and Sheriffs' departments of Santa Clara County, and performances by the 561st Air Force Band, and the Monta Vista Variations choral group.


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