Dozens of Vietnam veterans remembered at Richland pinning ceremony
With one purpose, a diverse collection of people crowded the Red Lion in Richland on Saturday.
Some came in leather jackets, others in camouflage coats and some had suits. A few people wore hats or jackets declaring what branch of the military they served in.
The group was bound by the part they played in the Vietnam War, which raged more than 50 years ago.
More than 200 Vietnam War veterans filled the conference room to receive a service lapel pin during a pinning ceremony led by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside. It’s the largest ceremony the congressman has hosted since he took office this year.
Since joining the effort, Newhouse has held similar events in Sunnyside, Moses Lake, Okanogan and Selah.
He held the event as part of this annual Veteran Service Fair, which offers veterans a chance to interact with various community services.
The event is a belated thank you from a country that did not greet many of the veterans fondly when they returned home from southeast Asia, Newhouse said.
“A lot of my family members, a lot of people that I knew, I watched go off to war,” he said. “The good thing is that I was able to see most of them come back. Not all, but most of them.
“When you came home, it was the ’60s and it was the ’70s, we were almost and maybe more divided than we are today.”
Newhouse’s staff members collected more than 180 names even before the event started, and an additional 50 people signed up at the event, making it the largest he has hosted, Newhouse said.
“We have done our best to try and reach out to as many Vietnam-era service members as we can,” Newhouse said.
It’s an effort that Mary Ponder, Evan Meacham and Steve Wilson appreciated. Meacham and Wilson crewed on submarines and Ponder worked in supply during the war.
They all said none of them would leave the base in uniform at the time for fear that someone would take out their frustration on them.
“It was good. People ask, ‘Would you do it again?’” Meacham said. “If my country called me, voom out the door.”
Newhouse brought a visitor along for the event. Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., attended the event as part of bipartisan congressional exchange. The program has Democrats and Republicans visit each others’ districts to learn more about what is important to them.
Anyone interested in learning more about getting a service pin can call Britten Hershberger at 509-452-3243.