The event, which will include speeches and a free buffet, is being held at Amvets Post 74 at 2150 Main St., Three Rivers.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
PALMER — For the first time, the town will hold an event exclusively to honor Vietnam veterans, a group that hasn't received the same post-war reception as veterans of other U.S. conflicts.
"Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Romuald Renaud Amvets Post 74 at 2150 Main St. in Three Rivers. The event will include a free buffet for veterans, their families and the public, according to Billy Byrnes, who served as an Army medic in Vietnam. Byrnes, a highly decorated veteran from Bondsville, is among those slated to speak at the event.
"In Palmer, it's the first time ever," Byrnes said of the celebration. "It's very important for me."
Palmer Town Councilor Paul E. Burns co-sponsored a resolution with Byrnes and Paul Graveline, the town's former veterans' agent, to make every March 30 in Palmer a "day of commemoration, reflection and respect to those Palmer-area veterans, as well as all veterans across this great country, who sacrificed so much during the war in Vietnam."
The Town Council voted to officially designate March 30 as Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran’s Day in the town of Palmer. The last U.S. ground troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, with many U.S. veterans' groups commemorating the occasion on either the 29th or 30th of March.
Burns said Vietnam veterans should be acknowledged for their valiant "service and sacrifice," adding that many don't get the respect they deserve. "I think it's an important acknowledgement of the service of an often forgotten group of vets who deserve to have their service acknowledged," he said.