Central Valley Vietnam War veterans, some of the 2.7 million Americans who served in Vietnam, gathered in downtown Stockton Sunday morning in front of the Vietnam War Memorial at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza – reflecting and remembering, while being honored for their service.
"When I came back home, I got out in August of '69, three months early out, and that first November, Veterans Day, I went out to the post, Veteran of Foreign Wars Post on West Lane," Gwyndell Holloway, U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran, said. "And as soon as I walked in there, I felt the disgust. I mean, them guys, them old timers looked at me like, 'You ain't welcome here. What are you doing here?' I felt it. They didn't have to say anything. The way they looked at me, I can tell I wasn't welcome. So I immediately exited out of there."
"The experience was something you can't describe unless you've ever been in a war," Henry said. "Coming home, it was pretty rough. Nobody appreciated us."
"It means a lot," Henry said. "You can't help but think of the friends you lost. Not friends, they're brothers. And just thankful that people are starting to realize what we went through."
"I think it's very healing," Pamela Henry said. "And it's good for me to hear stories from other people that he's not alone. He's never alone, and sometimes he feels so alone."
"There's a lot of forgiveness, and he has a lot of pain," Pamela Henry said. "And I truly understand it. Not all of it, because I wasn't there to see it all."
"We (were) getting overrun in my sixth month and I got flushed out of my position," Holloway said. "I was out on the LP, which is a listening post, and I got hit in the back. The second time I got wounded, I was 29 days short of going home. We were at base camp and we had rockets coming in and I (saw) the first two fall. I turn around to run and one fell between me and another person and I got hit in the back of the head. So, I suffered a traumatic brain injury."
"Just pray for the best for all the veterans that are still in the Army, in the armed services, to not have to go to war and put up with the stuff that we had to put up with," Holloway said.
"It's always healing for me to listen to the bagpipes and the songs that they have, that they sing, and the energy that they put out to have these events," Holloway said.
"It grabs a hold of my heart when I hear TAPS," Henry said. "I lost many friends, and I think back to them. And Amazing Grace, also."
And for these veterans, what is helpful is talking with fellow veterans, to help with the mental turmoil they've suffered.
"Being around the other veterans, like Richard and Joe Maes, and we all helped each other out mentally. We got our own group started, the Central Valley Vietnam Veterans of California," Holloway said. "Doing that and marching in parades, it was helpful for me."
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