Coaster Photo
Vietnam veterans marched in a parade honoring them Saturday in Neptune. A luncheon at the VFW followed the parade.
By WILLIAM CLARK
Neptune honored Vietnam veterans in a parade Saturday that went from the municipal complex to the Howard Daley VFW Post.
It was a parade they never had when they returned from Vietnam 50 years ago.
“That is what it was always about, thanking them for their service and their sacrifice,” Neptune Mayor Robert Lane said.
Veterans from around the area lined up and were led down Washington Avenue by elected officials and the JROTC from the high school. Other veterans were escorted in cars and and rode their motorcycles as well wishers clapped, cheered and waved small American flags from the sidewalks. Several held up pictures of their relatives from their time in the service, some clad in their dress uniforms, others posing during their time on the ground in the Southeastern Asian country.
“I think we had a great turnout,” Mayor Rob Lane said.
Lane said that several veterans expressed their gratitude to him during the event for the town’s recognition of the veterans during the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the war in Vietnam.
“That is what it was always about, thanking them for their service and their sacrifice,” Lane said.
Neptune Police Chief Anthony Gualario, a veteran himself, was happy to assist in the effort.
“It was a pleasure and my duty to assist Mayor Lane with honoring our Vietnam Veterans on this 50th Anniversary with a well-deserved parade,” he said. “Being a veteran makes this even more special and hits closer to home as to the respect and honor our Vietnam veterans deserve. It makes me proud to serve the Neptune Township community in these two distinctive roles as the police chief and as the Jr. Vice Commander of VFW Post 1333 in Neptune.”
Gualario said that the semicentennial made the event even more important, ensuring that these veterans felt, seen and appreciated so far after the fact.
“As a veteran, there is a tremendous sense of pride and appreciation that fills my heart when I think about the sacrifices made by the men and women who served in the Vietnam War,” he said. “
VFW Senior Vice Commander Tony Richardson said the luncheon the organization hosted following the parade drew a standing room only crowd. He said several veterans were there to be recognized in addition to a crew of family members of late veterans that wanted to honor their fathers’ memory.
“We weren’t turning anybody away,” Richardson said.
Those in attendance received a custom commemorative challenge coin to mark the occasion. Following the luncheon, Richardson said several people and organizations reached out to donate in order to have more coins pressed for those who were unable to receive one the day of. The VFW received $1,600 dollars including one $1,000 from the Sons of the American Revolution.
Dave Drummond, a POW from Vietnam, also spoke during the event. Richardson said this year he was able to bring artifacts from his time in the camp.
Richardson said that the parade and luncheons are small tokens to the honor of those that served and the memory of those that were lost. Richardson himself said that he feels pangs of survivors’ syndrome and still to this day prays for the men that never came home and their families that lost them.
To see the parade route lined with flags and see the turnout of the luncheon helps Richardson with the memories of the time where he experienced the lack of respect that the forces were met with upon returning to America.
The saying he put on the challenge coin sums up how he feels about all the service members who went through something similar: “We went as strangers and came back as brothers forever.”
