Vietnam Vets Honored In Ceremony
A Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremony was held last Friday, March 29, at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne in honor of the nationally recognized holiday, celebrated on or around that day each year.
The event prevailed despite rain and strong winds, and attendees showed up to pay their respects during the ceremony, which was relocated to one of the committal shelters on the cemetery’s grounds.
The event was held on National Vietnam War Veterans Day, which was designated as an annual commemorative holiday in 2017, when the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act was signed into law. Most states honor or celebrate Vietnam War Veterans on March 29 or 30; although March 29 is generally recognized as the more appropriate date, as that was the date in 1973 when the final American combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam.
The guest speaker was United States Marine Veteran Chaplain Roger Hoffman, who shared his story of serving in Vietnam as a Marine with the crowd of about two dozen attendees. Molly Lodge, a junior at Bourne High School, performed “America the Beautiful,” and the Patriot Guard Riders were also in attendance, bearing American flags.
State Representative Steven G. Xiarhos (R-Barnstable), who shared the event widely on social media, posted a video of Chaplain Hoffman’s speech on Facebook. Speaking with the Enterprise after the ceremony, Rep. Xiarhos said he was moved by the former Marine’s story, which he said he was sharing publicly for the very first time that day.
“On August 12, 1960,” Chaplain Hoffman said, “my last flight was hit by a bomb fire somewhere over ‘Nam.”
The plan was to safely eject but upon ejecting, the young Marine was assaulted by the blast of another explosion and waves of shrapnel.
“I don’t remember much of August 12 after ejecting,” Chaplain Hoffman said. “I was told the Navy found a bloody me floating around in my little raft some 10 hours later.”
Navy doctors and corpsmen kept him alive by inducing a coma, Chaplain Hoffman continued, and they eventually made it to a navy hospital in San Diego, California. He underwent many surgeries while in that coma, he said, and some three months later, doctors began waking him up.
“With my military career over, I was honorably discharged in January 1962 and I humbly stand before you on the 50th anniversary of Vietnam,” Chaplain Hoffman continued. “I’m lucky to be here in this solemn place, not only to thank you veterans but also those of you who have committed to support our veterans.”
Mr. Hoffman’s speech was “really, really, really special,” Rep. Xiarhos said after the event.
“I’ve been to the Vietnam Veterans ceremony probably for the past seven years in a row… it’s always very emotional,” he said, adding that he always takes the opportunity to then visit his own son, Nicholas Xiarhos, also a US Marine, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009 at the age of 21.
“Remember these Vietnam vets,” Rep. Xiarhos said. “They’re all heroes and they’re all around us; they’re very humble, they don’t talk about it… and these were all young men and women and now they’re old, but they all love their country. Really, the price of our freedom is never free; it’s actually very costly.”
According to the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration website, Massachusetts is home to over 400 Vietnam War memorial events this year, with 252 partners across the state.