Veterans and others paused to mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Wednesday, March 29. Tammy Wells photo

BIDDEFORD – Raymond Doyon’s Army service in Vietnam was a relatively short two months before he was transferred to South Korea.

Doyon served from 1968 to 1970. His job in southeast Asia was as a wrecker operator, retrieving damaged helicopters and the like from the field and sending them on for repair.

He still remembers what it was like when he came home.

“I didn’t fit in,” he said. “I had a hard time. I didn’t adjust.”

Many did not adjust, and some, 50 years on, are in the process of adjusting.

Many still have nightmares of being there. Many remember the hostile reception they got when they arrived home.

But they are home, and the welcomes come now, even though they did not when they touched down on American soil 50 or more years ago.

On Wednesday, March 29, upward of 50 people, mostly veterans and their friends and family members, gathered at Veterans Memorial Park in Biddeford to mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Veterans Gene Foster and Ted Sirois raised the commemorative flag marking 50 years since the departure of U.S. combat troops from Vietnam on March 29, 1973. Tammy Wells Photo

It was the 50th anniversary since the war officially ended on March 29, 1973 – the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam.

Biddeford City Councilor Marty Grohman said he became passionate about Vietnam veterans’ issues when he was a state legislator, and was approached by a veteran who, he said had not gotten the benefits for which he was eligible and had not been recognized for his service.

“I realized how poorly he was treated,” said Grohman.

He went on to talk about the war, and homecoming.

“Vietnam veterans fought a long, brutal, and, over time, increasingly unpopular war. It was also politically unsuccessful,” Grohman said. He pointed out that those who served did their job.

“… but when they returned home, they were met by an ungrateful nation that seemed to blame the warriors for a war Americans didn’t like,” said Grohman. “Coming home from war, even in triumph, is hard enough. But returning to a hostile home front inflicts more pain than many can bear. That special pain has shaped our Vietnam veterans. It has made them who they are today. And who they are is something extraordinary. They suffered so much, but all they really wanted was to make sure it didn’t happen to any other veterans. Since then, it’s been my goal to recognize them, to give them the welcome home they didn’t get back 50 years ago. ”

It was a solemn ceremony.

Raymond Doyon, who served in Vietnam and South Korea salutes during ceremonies marking National Vietnam War Veterans Day in Biddeford on Wednesday, March 29. Tammy Wells Photo

Jessica Johnson played the Star-Spangled Banner, as the Vietnam War 50th year commemorative flag was raised by veterans Gene Foster and Ted Sirois. Later, Johnson and her son Julian Truitt sounded taps together, as they have for the last several years, honoring, Truitt said, veterans’ service.

Michael Gibney, Commander of Post 26, American Legion, spent 10 months and 4 days of his career with the U.S. Air Force in southeast Asia.

He pointed out that of those who served during the Vietnam War, 75 percent were enlistees – just one in four were drafted.

Gibney spoke of those 58,200 people who did not come home, and whose names are on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, including the names of eight women.

He spoke of the role of the television news media of the time – and while, he said, the information given was factual, it was “easily spun.”

He spoke of his reception in southeast Asia, and when he came home.

“I was spat on twice, once in Thailand and once on U.S. soil, ” Gibney said.

Wayne Strout, who turned 77 on the day of the ceremony, has been a member of the AMVETS for more than 40 years. On Dec. 28, 1965, he underwent basic training at Fort Dix, followed by a stint at Fort Knox before heading to Vietnam in June 1966.

“I still occasionally have nightmares,” Strout said. “I expect I always will.”

Dennis Tallagnon, who served in Berlin as a U.S. Army MP in the mid-1950s. attended with his wife Bonnie.

“The veterans of Vietnam were not appreciated,” she said.

Veteran Raoul Goulet of Biddeford read the names of those Biddeford men who perished, as listed on the Biddeford War Memorial. They include Leo Paul Allie, Richard j. Bassett, Raymond Bilodeau. Raymond A. Borduas, Robert N. Dechene, Peter Dube, Herve Guay, Daniel B. Henry, Robert W. Jones, Michael E. Kopetski, Robert E. LaBonte, Renald G. Lepage, and Norman G.J. Poitras. Those who hailed from Saco include Stephen Bean, Paul Belanger, and David Duranceau.

Rachel Tardif wiped a tear as Goulet read the name Robert N. Dechene, her brother – and Raoul Goulet’s neighbor. Goulet, who later served, as did his brother, remembers seeing the car pull up to the Dechene residence in Biddeford one day.  He knew, he said, that the news would not be good.

Michael Goulet of Saco served in Okinawa from 1970-1972 and is a member of Post 96, AMVETS. His brother Richard, who has since passed away, served in Vietnam. They both came home.

“It’s something we should remember,” he said. “When we were younger, no one wanted to think about this war. We’re here for the ones who couldn’t come back.”