Max Bennett was just 10 when he saw his older brother William break down in tears over the spit that had ruined his Air Force uniform.
On leave from duty to attend an awards program for their mother, 22-year-old William arrived at the Indianapolis airport in uniform, only to be greeted by angry strangers who spit on him as he walked through the airport.
That was in 1974. Today, the public's attitude toward servicemembers -- and especially those who served during the Vietnam era -- has changed. The new attitude of appreciation has been built on a wave of patriotism blanketing the nation in recent years, said Bennett, a retired Army chief warrant officer 4 and current president of the North Alabama Veterans and Fraternal Organizations Coalition.
"I think this is catching on. We've been patriotic for the last 10 to 15 years. During the Vietnam War, this country wasn't patriotic. Then, we went through a time when we were sort of ambivalent," he said. "But now we are patriotic and it's something that you especially feel in this community."
Appreciation certainly ran deep at a ceremony honoring the area's Vietnam veterans on March 29, a date now known as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in Alabama and some 25 other states. Through a proclamation signed by Gov. Robert Bentley, March 29 -- the day in 1973 when the U.S. completed withdrawal of all combat troops from Vietnam -- will remain on the state's calendar as an annual recognition of the sacrifices Vietnam veterans and their families have made for the country. Also, on Thursday, President Barack Obama signed a national proclamation recognizing March 29, 2012, as Vietnam Veterans Day.
About 1,000 veterans and community representatives attended the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans ceremony at the Veterans Memorial in downtown Huntsville on a warm and sunny day meant for ceremony. It was hoped by organizers, who are members of the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Steering Committee, that the event would help erase -- or maybe just ease -- the emotional scars caused by the anger and hatred many U.S. citizens showed Vietnam veterans when they returned home from an unpopular war.
"Who would not welcome home their own sons and daughters?" Bennett said, referring back to his brother's ordeal in 1974 as he spoke during the ceremony. "Today we are here to right a wrong."
The U.S. completed withdrawal of all combat troops from Vietnam on March 29, 1973, ending America's longest war. During 15 years of military involvement, more than 2 million Americans served in Vietnam with 500,000 seeing actual combat. A total of 47,244 were killed in action and there were 10,446 non-combat deaths. Another 304,000 were wounded, including 10,000 amputees. More than 2,400 American servicemembers who were either prisoners of war or missing in action were unaccounted for as of 1973.
"We were all touched by the Vietnam War," Bennett said. "We all knew someone who served."
The ceremony included patriotic music performed by the Army Materiel Command Band; posting of the colors by Kilo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marines; singing of the national anthem; laying of a wreath accompanied by the performance of "Amazing Grace" by bagpipe musician and Redstone Arsenal employee Joe Ausfahl; and a ceremonial firing and the playing of "Taps" by the AMC Band. State Rep. Howard Sanderford and State Sen. Bill Holtzclaw each read legislative resolutions for Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle and Madison Mayor Paul Finley shared city proclamations for the day's recognition.
Holtzclaw, a retired Marine and chairman of the state senate's Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, said he was only in the third grade when the Vietnam War ended in 1973. And yet, the war affected his life in a very real way.
"My first experience with a Vietnam veteran came at the age of 18 when I was at boot camp. That veteran scared the hell out of me. He made me a good Marine and I appreciate that," Holtzclaw said.
"When my battalion came back from the Pershing Gulf War it was Vietnam veterans who welcomed me home. I am indebted for that welcome. They knew how they should have been welcomed home and that's how I was welcomed home."
Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Frank Libutti, who received three Purple Hearts and a Silver Star for his service during the war's Operation Buffalo in July 1967, described Vietnam as the "longest and costliest war under difficult conditions." He said the 1960s was an era when there was confusion in the government and highest level of the military, when there was a lack of congressional and public support for the war, when the media was biased and inaccurate in its reporting of the war and when political leadership lacked a coherent war strategy.
The end result was a demoralizing environment for U.S. servicemembers fighting for freedom and democracy in a country halfway around the world.
"Yet you continued to execute your mission," he told the veterans in the crowd. "Your actions were characterized by honor, courage, commitment, loyalty and selfless service. No one did it better than you did."
And when those veterans returned home, they went on to live successful lives, contribute to society, and become the coaches, mentors and heroes for the next generations. He noted that only a small number of Vietnam veterans came home to deal with war-related injuries.
"Your nation and your community now welcomes you home," Libutti said. "And the message is profound, albeit simple. Thank you for your extraordinary service and sacrifices, including the sacrifices of your families."
During his comments, Libutti ceremoniously welcomed home an Army veteran from Scottsboro, a Navy veteran from Owens Cross Roads, a Marine veteran from Section, a Coast Guard veteran from Athens and an Army nurse veteran from Madison.
Looking out on the hundreds of Vietnam veterans in the crowd, he said "It has been far too long since you all were properly welcomed home. Your contribution was a significant one and truly made a difference."
It was unknown how many other Alabama cities planned Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans ceremonies. The Athens city council held a short ceremony for Vietnam veterans during their meeting on March 29 and Cottondale's VFW Post 6022 and its ladies auxiliary hosted an open house in honor of Vietnam veterans on March 31.
"This was incredible," Holtzclaw said of the ceremony at the Veterans Memorial. "It was just wow across the board. It was great to be a part of it. Humbling."
Other local veterans agreed.
"It was excellent and a long overdue program," said Vietnam veteran Michael Sullivan Sr. "I learned about this event from a brochure I got from the VA clinic in town, and I had to come. This was not only a ceremony for us, but it also gave us a chance to meet other Vietnam vets."
With most Vietnam veterans in their 60s and 70s, veteran Nicholas Jones said he was "glad to see all these Vietnam veterans come out for this and enjoy it. We are all getting up in age. It's important that we come together at an event like this.
"Vietnam veterans are a close network in this community. Whenever something patriotic happens, they all come out. If you are a Vietnam veteran, then you came out here if you are able."
Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient James Draper, who works at the Commissary, said the ceremony gave him "chills up and down my spine. To be recognized 40 years later and to see so many Vietnam veterans come out here made me feel good. It was wonderful to see my brothers."
The Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans ceremony was the first official event at the Veterans Memorial since it opened to the public on Veterans Day 2011.
"It was only fitting that the first Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans event was held here," said retired Brig. Gen. Bob Drolet, who led the fund-raising effort for the memorial and who is also a highly decorated Vietnam veteran.
"The foundation that has been working on this memorial for 10 years, this is what they wanted. They wanted this to be a place where veterans could come together, where they would be respected and where they could hold veteran ceremonies with dignity. Look at those flags flying overhead. Look at this memorial. It is just truly amazing."
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