On September 29, 2009, California became the first state in the nation to sign a bill making March 30 Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. The bill was introduced by Vietnam veteran Assemblyman Paul Cook (D-Yucca Valley) at the urging of Jose Ramos of Whittier and the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) California State Council.
As a result of that legislature, VVA Chapter 391 is hosting a parade in Sonora, the only parade for Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day in the nation. Chicago is having a parade for Vietnam Veterans; however, Illinois does not have a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day (WHVVD).
In California, there are events in several areas including Riverside, Sacramento, Whittier, Pleasanton, Fresno, Redding, the Central Coast, Alameda and Humboldt counties and other areas are having small celebrations.
The WHVVD organization, which began in Whittier by Jose Ramos, is having a celebration at the California High School Stadium on March 28 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be military vehicles on display along with military memorabilia, music, food, and the traveling Vietnam Wall at Rose Hills in Whittier from March 23 to March 30.
The Blue Star Moms, Lafayette Flag Brigade, the Palo Alto Health Care System are inviting veterans to Pleasanton for a Welcome Home and Thank You from Noon to 5 p.m. at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. As Vietnam veterans enter, they will be escorted to the event area by the Warriors Watch Riders and an Army band will play patriotic music. There will be speakers and community presentations.
In Sacramento, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 500 will be having ceremonies at the California Vietnam Veterans Memorial on March 27. On March 25, the VVA California State Council is holding their First Annual Lobby Day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. They’re expecting at least 40 Vietnam veterans from as far away as Riverside. There will be a presentation of the Joint Members Resolutions on the Senate Floor to the VVA State Council and Jose Ramos, the driving force behind WHVVD. They will also be presented with the Joint Members Resolutions on the Assembly floor. The VVA State Council will also receive the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Proclamation by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Roger Brautigan, California Department of Veterans Affairs, and special guest Jon Voight. The VVA State council will present Legislator of the Year awards to Senator Darrell Steinburg and Assemblyman Paul Cook.
Humboldt County’s VVA-Chapter 781 doesn’t have anything planned for the 28th; however, they have received proclamations from Ferndale, Fortuna, Rio Dell, and Arcata as well as the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. They received Ferndale’s on March 4. On March 15, they will receive Fortuna’s and then on the 16th Rio Dell and on the 17th, they will get the proclamation from Arcata. According to Daniel Lawrence, president of the Chapter, Arcata was “a hotbed of anti-Vietnam sentiment during the late 60s and early 70s.”
In Fresno, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 933 will work with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center to have a ceremony at the hospital entrance on March 28. Ceremonies begin at 2 p.m. at the front entrance to the Medical Center. Proclamations from both the City and County of Fresno will be read and there will be several speakers and the veterans will form a procession away from the hospital after the ceremonies.
In Guadalupe on the Central Coast, Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 982 members and guests will gather at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Guadalupe Street for a ceremony at 11 a.m. and a barbecue at 3 p.m. According to Jerry Kaufman of Guadalupe, “We’re expecting a large turnout and this event, like all the others, will go a long way to heal old wounds from when we returned from the Vietnam Conflict.”
Vietnam Veterans Chapter 357 in Redding a large get-together. At 8:30 the Patriot Guard and Missing in America motorcyclists will escort the cars to the Veterans Cemetery in Shasta County and after ceremonies there, they will proceed to the Veterans Hall in Redding where they will have lunch and ceremonies which include giving plaques to the Vietnam Veterans. The Veterans Affairs will have their benefits truck at the event. According to Julie Clausen (her husband is a Navy Vietnam veteran), Chapter 357 only have five active Vietnam Veterans and these five put the whole thing together.
The biggest event on March 28 is happening in Sonora. Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 391 is hosting a parade sponsored by many business and residents of Tuolumne County and other areas of California. According to George Eldridge, public affairs spokesperson, “This is the principal event and it’s the only parade in the first state to sign a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day bill (AB-717) signed by the Governor last September. In fact, it’s the only WHVVD parade in the nation.” Eldridge pointed out that Chicago is doing a Vietnam Veterans parade; however, Illinois does not have a WHVVD bill. There are some other parades in April, but that’s for Veterans Day and not just for Vietnam veterans.
The parade in Sonora will have two Grand Marshals, both Vietnam Medal of Honor recipients. Jon Cavaiani, also a former POW, of Sonora and Richard Pittman, also the president of the Medal of Honor Society, of Stockton. Accompanying the men in the Grand Marshal convertible will be State Senator David Cogdill (D-14th District). The parade will be lead by a Sheriff’s car driven by Vietnam Veteran and Deputy Sheriff Tom Memmer. He will be followed by a five-man color guard from the Lemoore Naval Air Station down by Fresno.
The parade will begin at 1 p.m. and proceed down Washington Street and then onto Stockton Road and end at the parking lot of Bertelli’s Drugs and Mother Lode Bank. Eldridge expects an excellent turnout. They have a group coming from Chapter 989 in Reno and another from the San Francisco Special Forces Chapter 23. “We have people coming from as far south as Tulare and Merced. We have at least one veteran coming from Pismo Beach,” he added. Chapter 391 is still looking for sponsors and for entrants in the parade. Eldridge said that March 22 is the deadline for both. The forms can be obtained from the web site at www.VietnamVeterans391.org. There is also a souvenir t-shirt and poster available at www.VietnamVeterans391.org/tshirts/shop plus they will be sold at the the Parade by the Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America (AVVA).
After the parade, Chapter 391 is holding a Meet ‘n Greet at the Veterans Memorial Hall for all veterans in the parade. Paul Kennedy, a Vietnam Veteran and owner of Outlaws BarBQ on Washington Street will have his barbecue wagon on Jackson Street next to the Hall. Jackson Street will be closed until 6 p.m. before and after the parade. Also after the parade, Tom Memmer, a Vietnam Veteran and candidate for Sheriff is having a Music Fest in the parking lot near Yosemite Bank playing music from the 50s through the 70s.
Eldridge and Region 9 Director Dick Southern just put VVA Chapter 391 on Facebook and in just three days, they garnered over 130 fans. The parade is also on the page and they have had over 50 say they would be or hope to be at the parade.
VVA-Chapter 391 just received word that after being in 9th place in the nation for a year, their chapter is now in 8th place out of 650 and is still the largest chapter in California. The VVA State Council named them Chapter of the Year for 2008 and 2009. What makes this unique is that Tuolumne County is one of the smaller counties in California. In fact, the population of Tuolumne County almost comes up to the total number killed in Vietnam.