In Tonawanda, honoring devotion to duty from era when nation was deeply divided
The Buffalo News
By Joseph Popiolkowski
News Staff Reporter
July 2, 2015
“They really have influenced the way our troops are treated now. And I think it’s really, really admirable.”
Valerie Monahan
Charles M. Pritchard celebrated his 20th birthday in 1966 on a ship that was taking him across the Pacific Ocean to Vietnam.
He landed in the southern port of Vung Tau and spent a year fighting the North Vietnamese up the Mekong Delta to Chu Lai as an Army combat engineer.
“We built things and blew up things,” said Pritchard, 68, of the Town of Tonawanda.
But he was shocked by the reception he got when he returned home from that controversial war in September 1967.
After a debriefing in Oakland, Calif., he and others were told not to walk through the San Francisco airport alone for fear that they would be accosted by anti-war protesters.
“It still hurts to this day – still hurts,” said Pritchard, his voice breaking.
At an American Legion post while picking up a fish fry, he asked the bartender how he could join the veterans organization. Pritchard was told he had to go to war: “I said, ‘I went to Vietnam.’ He said, ‘That wasn’t a war.’ ”
read more here
No comments:
Post a Comment
If it is not helpful, do not be hurtful. Spam removed so do not try putting up free ad.