30-03-2025
DuBois VFW hosts luncheon to honor Vietnam veterans
DUBOIS, Pa. (WTAJ) — The DuBois VFW Post 813 hosted a free luncheon for local Vietnam veterans to honor their service.
March 29 marks National Vietnam War Veterans Day, which honors over 9 million troops who were sent to South Vietnam to serve our nation. Post 813 wanted to thank them for that service, something those veterans were unfamiliar with.
'It wasn't the award-winning day that World War I, World War II and Korea got,' John Hebner, a machine gunner for the United States Marine Corps from 1968 to 1969, said. 'We were kind of shunned.'
The war was highly politicized, garnering negative reactions from the public when soldiers returned home. That prompted those veterans to go undercover.
'If you went downtown, you never wore a uniform, like someone would harass you.' US Navy veteran Jake Rindosh said. 'Someone would say something negative, but then you just try and be low-key about it.'
'They were degraded,' Hebner added. 'They were spit on. They were definitely poisoned with that kind of atmosphere.'
In 2017, Congress passed legislation to make the day US troops evacuated South Vietnam into a day of remembrance. This includes those who served on the front lines of duty and those who were prisoners of war or missing in action.
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'There were a lot of people who died and gave their all during the Vietnam War,' Hebner said. 'And were never recognized. That's what we're trying to do here today.'
'The saying says time heals wounds,' Pennsylvania State Representative Mike Armanini (R-75th) said. 'This is good that now everyone is coming as one and respecting these people which they very well deserve.'
Local veterans arrived at the VFW to a spread of kielbasa, sloppy joes, charcuterie and cake. They sat around the lunch tables, sharing stories of their days back in the encampments.
Speaking about a topic that was kept quiet for over 50 years proved to be therapeutic.
'For some people to let it out, I mean you just can't talk about the things that happened, the things that you saw and things like that to someone who has never been there,' Hebner added. 'But this gives them the opportunity to talk to somebody who they stood beside, did this and had the same atmosphere.'
The luncheon is one step forward from years of silence and degradation, but the veterans now feel they are getting their moment of respect for serving the nation.
'I'm glad that we're finally getting everything to where it should be for them,' Armanini said.
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