March 22, 2023 |
Photo – Veteran Saluting Flag – Bigfoot99 file photo
Governor Mark Gordon will visit Saratoga Saturday morning to thank and welcome home veterans, surviving spouses and family members. Veterans from all eras are welcome.
The Governor and First Lady Jennie Gordon will fly into Shively Field and then ground shuttle to Angus England Post #54 in Saratoga shortly after 8 a.m. Major General Greg Porter and Veterans Commission Chairman Jake Jacobs also will attend the “Welcome Home.”
Post #54 Commander James Olguin says the event is open to all veterans and families, no matter when or where you served.
The flyer announcing the visit states, “It is never too late to do the right thing.” The official day of welcoming veterans home was codified in state law in 2012 during the 61st legislative session for March 30 of each year, the date U.S. combat troops would have set foot on Wyoming soil after returning home from the Vietnam War in 1973.
The first Wyoming Veterans “Welcome Home” Day was celebrated on the 40th anniversary of that date.
Anti-war sentiment in parts of the country was loud and sometimes bitter. Not all, but some, Viet Nam-era veterans were shunned or vilified for their service. The military service of Korean War-era Veterans was sometimes diminished, as well, because of the ambiguous way the conflict ended.
Saturday marks the 10th anniversary of the celebration in Wyoming. The event has grown over the last decade to include all veterans to receive a thank you from a grateful state.
Olguin said the doors to Post #54 will open by 7:30 Saturday morning to accept attendees.
Governor Gordon’s office confirmed that his schedule calls for him to be at Post #54 in Saratoga from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. It will be the first of four stops the governor will make on Saturday at Wyoming Veterans Ceremonies around the state. The second is in Cody, the third in Powell, and the fourth in Hulett.
