March 27, 2023 |
Photo – Governor Mark Gordon – Bigfoot99 file photo
Governor Mark Gordon flew into Saratoga on Saturday to formally thank and welcome home local veterans. The governor singled those who served in the Viet Nam War, saying they were denied a proper welcome home by a nation that wanted to forget and move on following their service.
The Governor’s visit marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the Viet Nam War. About four dozen local veterans, along with their family members, attended the ceremony Saturday morning at Angus England Post #54 in Saratoga.
The official day of welcoming was codified in state law in 2012 during the 61st legislative session. It set March 30th of each year as the date the last number of U.S. combat troops returned home from the Vietnam War in 1973. In his remarks Saturday morning, the Governor recalled the divisive nature of the war had divided the nation.
About four-dozen veterans attended the ceremony Saturday morning. Many served during the Viet Nam era. Major General Greg Porter saluted them for their sacrifice. Maj. Gen. Porter talked about how Viet Nam-era veterans were asked to put away their uniforms and pack away their memories and experiences upon their return home. The nation had moved on from the experience, Porter said, even if those who had served had not.
One of the veterans who attended Saturday morning’s event was Dick Perue, who served as a communication and information center specialist in the Wyoming Air National Guard from 1959 to 1965. Perue, who later worked as publisher of the Saratoga Sun, had prepared a printed handout which featured some of the surviving veterans from Saratoga.
One of them is Bill Rathbun, who turned 97 years old this year, who served during World War II where he served with Company B 127th Combat Engineer Battalion. Teense Wilford served in the Army from 1961 to 1963 as a Specialist, 4th Class, where he patrolled the Berlin Wall in 1962.
Younger veterans attended Saturday’s ceremony, as well. One of them was Joe Parsons who served in the U.S. Marine Corps following the attacks on the nation on Sept. 11, 2001. Parsons, who joined the local conservation district in 2012, after serving four years in the Marines, said it is important for the nation not to forget those have served and those who have sacrificed.
The ceremony in Saratoga was the first, of four, for Governor Gordon. The Governor and the First Lady were on the ground in Saratoga for about an hour. They flew out to attend similar “Welcome Home” events in Cody, Powell and Hulett.
