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State Reps. Rick Geist and Jerry Stern present medals to Vietnam-era veterans Friday at the Jaffa Shrine Center. (Mirror photo by J.D. Cavrich)
Vets receive late lauding
Pa. representatives honor hundreds for their military service in Vietnam
By Phil Ray, pray@altoonamirror.com
The military veterans who came to the Jaffa Shrine Center Friday fought decades ago in places like Da Nang, An Loc, Nha Trang, Long Binh, Quang Tri and the Mekong Delta.
When they returned home from a year or more in those far-off places, they often were greeted with catcalls and spit on by the people of a divided nation.
Ed Wilson of Bellwood, who fought with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam, can't forget his time in Vietnam - from March 1969 to December 1970 - or the inglorious return home.
Wilson and hundreds of other local Vietnam veterans received an entirely different welcome Friday when they were honored for their military service. Each received a medal and a certificate presented by Reps. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, and Jerry Stern, R-Martinsburg.
"You carried the day in your battle space [in Vietnam] ... on the field. If there was a problem with Vietnam, it was back home. It was not in the foxhole," said Vietnam veteran Samuel E. Hayes Jr., a former state representative and Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture, to a round of applause.
"Unless victory is your mission, we should not send our sons and daughters in harm's way," he added.
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http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/529190.html
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