Vietnam Vets thanked for service and sacrifice

Vietnam Vets thanked for service and sacrifice
Sunday, May 8, 2011
BY KAREN ROUSE
THE RECORD
STAFF WRITER
HOLMDEL — Joe Piacenti felt like Americans had gone on with life, forgetting him and all the other soldiers at war in Vietnam, when he returned to the United States in 1969.


LESLIE BARBARO/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

"Only your family and friends cared about you," he said Saturday, following a ceremony at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial where he was awarded the New Jersey Distinguished Service Medal.

"We weren’t really appreciated," the River Vale resident recalled.

On Saturday, those feelings were behind him. Piacenti beamed as bright as the blue skies and warm sun that seemed to shine in approval of the dozens of war veterans and about 300 of their supporters participating in the Vietnam Veterans’ Remembrance Day ceremony.
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Vietnam Vets thanked for service and sacrifice