LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Decades after the war, a ceremony Friday in Jeffersontown was held to honor and thank Vietnam veterans.
Dozens of veterans stood and saluted during the National Anthem on National Vietnam Veterans Day at Veterans Memorial Park on Taylorsville Road. It's an occasion that means so much to veterans who may not have been welcomed home or received formal recognition for their service and sacrifice.
"Every one of these guys has got stories," said Patrick Carnes, who served in the Vietnam War from 1969-70.
Capt. Marj Graves, who served as a nurse in Vietnam in the 1970s, was the keynote speaker at the event.
Veterans, family members, and the community attended an event Friday to honor and thank Vietnam veterans for their service. This images shows Jerry Dudgeon sitting with his granddaughter. (WDRB image)
"Many of us do not talk about our experiences," she said. "We hold them close. It leaves a huge imprint on our souls."
Jerry Dudgeon, who went to Vietnam in 1966 and came home in 1967, first began his service at 17 years old in the Korean War.
"I go to every one of these memorial services — or any service they have honoring the Vietnam veterans — because I know what we went through," Dudgeon said. "We did the job hoping that we could make it a free country for our children, our grandchildren (and) great-grandchildren to grow up in."
The path through the park leading to the event Friday was lined with images of the Vietnam War. The city of Jeffersontown just celebrated the opening of the Tri An Monument late last year.
"This memorial park means a great deal to us around here," Carnes said.
Friday was welcomed with a day of warmth and flags waving to honor those who came to the ceremony.
"We love our country, we served our country, but we are not the same as we were when we went over there," Graves said during her keynote address.
Veterans, family members, and the community attended an event Friday to honor and thank Vietnam veterans for their service. (WDRB image)
Carnes said events like this to honor Vietnam veterans are "a long time coming."
"We were once strangers and now we're brothers, and that's the truest statement you can have of all of us," he said.
The ceremony gave the Vietnam veterans a chance to saluting one another, as those who came to honor them said thank you.
An announcement at the ceremony also let people there know about a traveling Vietnam Veterans Wall that will be in Shepherdsville this summer, remembering the thousands who lost their lives during the war.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was there Friday to speak and thank veterans. He presented to proclamations, one declaring Friday, March 29, as Vietnam Veterans Day in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and another declaring it as Salute to Service Day.
The Veterans Administration said there are approximately seven million living Vietnam Veterans.
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