In observance of National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Sunday, March 29, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #7807 in Hiawassee hosted a Vietnam Veterans Day Ceremony and celebration for the local veterans of Union, Towns and Clay Counties.
Butch Underwood is credited as the “mastermind” behind the idea, with Mel Halfon and Jim Yohe stepping in to help organize the VFW and spearhead efforts to inform and invite veterans from the various communities.
Continue reading with a subscription.
North Georgia News — serving Union County since 1909.
$10 a month. Cancel anytime.
Underwood was first invited to the podium to speak. There, he immediately welcomed home his fellow Vietnam veterans, sharing that he served in 1968 and 1969. During that time, he made friends and inevitably came to know loss.
Like many veterans, Underwood was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he allowed himself to be vulnerable before the audience to say that there was hope to be found despite the struggle of overwhelming grief.
Part of Underwood’s journey has involved honoring his comrades with a mural, a wall of photos, names and dates of service and death. Bob Arnold is helping Underwood achieve that dream, ensuring that the names and faces of those lost overseas will never be forgotten once they hang for all to see in Post 7807.
Before pulling free the sheet covering the preview of the mural that will be coming to the post, Arnold revealed a bit about how it came to be.
The backdrop image portrays a veteran – Toby Brant, a best friend of Underwood – in a wheelchair before the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The final mural will feature the faces, names and important dates of soldiers killed in the line of duty in Vietnam, but for the sake of appreciating every aspect of the work of art, it was only partially filled.
The room, made up mostly of Vietnam veterans, erupted with applause, and all in attendance were invited to shout out the name of a friend they had lost. Underwood invited them to share the names of fallen comrades with him so that they could also find a place on the wall before it went up on final display.
The top two photos of the mural belong to Towns County soldiers. Halfon set about researching the pair and found that both were drafted. The first was drafted in June of 1968 and died on Aug. 8. The second was drafted almost exactly a year later, served in the same unit, and was killed on Aug. 10.
Another keynote speaker that day was Jim Yohe, President of Blairsville’s Vietnam Veteran of America Chapter 1101. Before diving into his own experience, Yohe laid out some statistics.
Over six million troops served in the longest war during American history, and of those, 58,000 did not come home. Georgia lost 1,584 soldiers, with 28 souls still marked missing in action. Twelve Georgians were awarded the Medal of Honor.
“Most of those six million were not volunteers. They were drafted, and as patriots, answered America’s call to serve in a very unpopular, divisive war. What is so disheartening is, even though drafted, the military servicemen and women were more often than not blamed for the actual war,” Yohe began before describing the hostility that so many were met with upon their return to the home they defended.
Yohe’s wife Judy, for example – one of the first 100 women to perform aircraft maintenance in the military – was spat at and verbally assaulted while in uniform.
“Even worse, when the war ended, many were not even welcomed into other veterans’ service organizations, so the Vietnam Veterans of America was formed,” Yohe said. “The mission of VVA was to ensure such disrespect of future veterans never happens again.
“For most Americans who have not been in combat, there is little comprehension of the impact war has not only physically, but especially mentally. As a Christian nation, life is normally cherished and valued, but the need to kill someone for survival is an awesome burden to have.”
Several veterans were inspired to share their own stories, extrapolating upon their experience in Vietnam with a healthy dose of humor and courage. Multiple voices represented a variety of branches and specialties, furthering the general feeling of camaraderie following the bittersweet nature of the mural announcement.
The afternoon wrapped up with a performance from local band Struck By Lightning, which played a set full of Vietnam-era hits, and folks filled the bar portion of the post for some relaxation following the ceremony.
Vietnam veterans and their spouses enjoyed a free fish dinner, marking a celebratory end to a day that made sure to thoroughly welcome them home with warmth and respect.
