JAY — Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3335 held an open house to mark Vietnam War Remembrance Day in Maine on Wednesday.
According to United States Department of Defense statistics, 58,220 servicemen died in the war. There were 303,644 who were wounded and 1,626 listed as missing in action.
On Wednesday morning, several veterans and family members were at the VFW Post, including Reginald Tardif of Jay, a Vietnam War veteran.
“I fought the war stateside,” he said. “We backed them boys up.”
Past State American Legion Commander Donald Simoneau of Fayette spoke of the first time he was publicly thanked for his service. In 2002, he was attending a meeting in Bangor and stopped at Wal-Mart, he said. A Boy Scout troop was set up outside the store and one of the boys thanked him.
“I got back in my van and cried,” Simoneau said.
“The American Legion didn’t want Vietnam vets initially because of the perceived image of them,” he said.
Many documents and maps were available at the open house, including:
• a June 1967 map of South Vietnam showing the four military regions in the country;
• images of, and information on, the medallions honoring Maine veterans of the Vietnam War and Maine Women Veterans of the Vietnam War on display in the Hall of Flags at the State House in Augusta;
• Maine casualties, listed alphabetically and by town; and
• lists of those from Maine who are still unaccounted for and those who have now been identified.
Simoneau said there were 339 casualties from Maine with five from the region:
• Andre Louis Dube of Livermore Falls;
• Larry Freeman Faulkner of Chisholm;
• David Alan Lane of Jay;
• Rodney George (Goding) Shank of Livermore; and
• Stanton Richard Dyke of Livermore Falls.
At least 180 days of active duty was required to be eligible for veterans benefits. The president brought a lot of servicemen back sooner to avoid providing benefits, Simoneau said.
Andy Gerrier of Livermore Falls served in the U.S. Army’s infantry from 1966-1968. He was in Vietnam for one year. He said some people yelled at him when leaving the airport upon his return to the United States, but no reactions were seen in Maine.
Tom Beauchesne of Rumford was in Vietnam from 1969-1970. He served in several different areas.
“When I returned, people were kept behind chain-link fences at the airport,” he said. “One protester threw a coffee cup filled with urine at the men in front of me. I didn’t get any on me,” he said.
Beauchesne said they were called baby killers and murderers.
“We thought we were doing good,” he said, referring to propaganda seen in Vietnam.
Gerrier said, “We didn’t lose that place — the politicians did.
“I saw a lot of friends get killed,” he said. “Didn’t think about it then. Fifty years later, it’s more on our minds.”
“It never leaves,” Beauchesne said. “We still remember. We were just kids.”
pharnden@sunmediagroup.net
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