It was heartwarming to see Beaufort County’s veterans of the Vietnam War singled out for recognition during the Veterans Day observance held at Veterans Memorial Park in Washington on Sunday.
It was long overdue.
There’s no doubt that the Walk of Honor temporarily set up on part of the Veterans Memorial Park grounds meant much to those veterans who made the short stroll down that Walk of Honor. Perhaps the applause they heard helped soothe the wounds — physical, psychological and spiritual — they suffered as a result of the war and their returns home. They received no ticker-tape parades. Some were spat upon when they returned home. Others were called “baby killers.” Some Americans protested.
Years after the Vietnam War ended, veterans of the war are beginning to receive the recognition they deserve — recognition long overdue.
During his remarks at Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday, keynote speaker Surry Everett, a veteran, honored all veterans with these words: “I want to remember all veterans who served their nation, whether they wanted to go or didn’t want to go. They went.”
Beaufort County’s Vietnam War veterans went to war, too. Some came home. Others did not.
Including Walk of Honor during the Veterans Day observance was the right thing to do. It should have occurred years ago.