Menifee holds special Welcome Home for Vietnam Veterans
The traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall includes the names of 58,000 U.S. soldiers killed in the war. (Staff photos) By Doug Spoon, Edi...
By Doug Spoon, Editor
A large crowd of military veterans, residents and local dignitaries gathered at Miller-Jones Memorial Park in Menifee Thursday for a very special occasion – a Welcome Home for Vietnam Veterans.
Fifty years after the end of the Vietnam war, many communities are hosting such events in honor of veterans who returned home to less than a warm welcome. Returning soldiers were ridiculed, spit on and otherwise shunned in an America still in the midst of a war protest in the late 1960s. Ceremonies like these are a small way to atone for the absence of a hero’s welcome all those decades ago.
Thursday’s ceremony was held next to the traveling Wall That Heals – a three-quarter-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. The traveling wall bears the names of 58,000 soldiers killed in action. Many veterans and relatives of those who lost their lives took time to find their loved one’s name on the wall, with some taking a pencil rubbing of the lettering as a keepsake.
“We are here today to honor the approximately 2.7 million Americans – men and women – who served in Vietnam,” Stephanie Ornelas of Miller-Jones Memorial Park told those in attendance. “This wall bears the names of 58,000 soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in one of the nation’s most challenging wars.
“Amid deep social, political and cultural division, those that made it home ... many were not met with gratitude and respect for their service and heroism. But today, and every day, we will honor you and thank you for your service.”
The ceremony included speeches by retired U.S. Army Lt. Tim Lickness and retired U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Enoch “Mac” McClain, who told stories of the mistreatment he and fellow soldiers received upon their return from the war. Both speakers warmly welcomed the many Vietnam veterans in attendance and spoke of the brotherhood they feel to this day with their fellow soldiers.
Menifee City Councilman Dean Deines, an Army Veteran who served in the years after the Vietnam War, also addressed the crowd.
“Today is very special for me,” Deines said. “I always told myself if I ever had the ability to honor the Vietnam Veterans, I would do that. Thankfully, I have the opportunity as a City Councilman to honor you the way you deserve. When our Vietnam Veterans returned home there were no ticker tape parades, no celebrations, not even a welcome home and thank you for your service.
“These veterans have lived up to the military code -- Duty, Honor, Country – yet they returned home to an ungrateful welcome and were vilified for their service. Though we cannot turn back the hands of time, today we recognize our Vietnam Veterans in the way they deserve.”
Riverside County Supervisor Chuck Washington, also a Veteran, reminded guests that Riverside County has the eighth largest veteran population in the nation and third in the state with more than 114,000 veterans. Nearly 9,000 of those live in Menifee.
“Once you serve, you become part of a family that will never leave you,” Washington said. “The service you commit yourself to is because you give up that independence of singular identity and become one as a whole, as a team.”
Menifee Mayor Bill Zimmerman and other City Council members also addressed the crowd, and a memorial wreath was laid on the stage. Afterward, many of those in attendance visited the wall, which stands in a field cleared for that purpose at the back of the cemetery.
The Wall that Heals will be open 24 hours a day through Sunday afternoon at Miller-Jones Memorial Park, located at 26770 Murrieta Road in Menifee.
Vietnam Veterans in attendance at Thursday's event were asked to stand and be recognized.
A small group of veterans with service dogs visited the wall and left momentoes.
