There's no Aggie context here but I thought this was worth sharing with you.
My friend HD came to the US from Vietnam in 1979 when he was 19 years old. He worked as a civilian engineer for the US Navy for 34 years in Orlando before retiring a couple of years ago. His wife Christina was also a Navy engineer. Eleven years ago, they established a non-profit called the Vietnam Unforgettable Memories Foundation that consists primarily of Vietnamese immigrants in central Florida who commemorate the military service of both South Vietnamese and US military personnel that fought in Vietnam. They are hyper-patriotic and will walk a mile to shake the hand of a Vietnam Vet. Wonderful people.
A couple of months ago, HD asked me to speak at an event he was organizing to present a Gold Star Pin to the family of a Marine Corporal James Griffin who had been killed in action in 1966. His wife and daughter (8 months old at the time of his death) had never formally received recognition as a Gold Star family. HD also learned that they were unaware of the service pins commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War that Congress authorized in 2013 to be presented through 2025. The event was yesterday at a VFW post in Salt Springs Florida which is south of Ocala in the Ocala National Forest.
Almost 200 people turned out for the event. Ten members of the VUMF drove up to set up the ceremony that was held after a buffet dinner. The veterans and their families were all very appreciative. They were really gratified that Vietnamese Ex-Pats would thank them over half a century later. The VUMF was enthusiastic about thanking them. The Vietnamese community here are so incredibly grateful for the freedom and the lives they have made for themselves in their adopted country but they still ache for what they lost. HD and Christina have a son and a daughter who are both commissioned officers in the US Army. If these Vietnamese immigrants could get into our public schools and talk about what it was like in the reeducation camps, I would love to see the looks on the faces of American kids. If you don't have any Vietnamese immigrant friends, I highly suggest seeking them out. They will recharge your batteries with optimism for America's future.
At the end of the evening, we had a Marine Corps Birthday cake cutting ceremony since it was November 10. Coincidentally, Cpl Griffin was born on November 10, 1945. The oldest Marine present was PFC Jack Hall who earned a Purple Heart at Iwo Jima. As luck would have it, there were no Marines in the room younger than age 55 so I got to take a bite of the cake reserved for the youngest Marine.
https://streamable.com/hbcjft
https://streamable.com/aohm6r
My friend HD came to the US from Vietnam in 1979 when he was 19 years old. He worked as a civilian engineer for the US Navy for 34 years in Orlando before retiring a couple of years ago. His wife Christina was also a Navy engineer. Eleven years ago, they established a non-profit called the Vietnam Unforgettable Memories Foundation that consists primarily of Vietnamese immigrants in central Florida who commemorate the military service of both South Vietnamese and US military personnel that fought in Vietnam. They are hyper-patriotic and will walk a mile to shake the hand of a Vietnam Vet. Wonderful people.
A couple of months ago, HD asked me to speak at an event he was organizing to present a Gold Star Pin to the family of a Marine Corporal James Griffin who had been killed in action in 1966. His wife and daughter (8 months old at the time of his death) had never formally received recognition as a Gold Star family. HD also learned that they were unaware of the service pins commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War that Congress authorized in 2013 to be presented through 2025. The event was yesterday at a VFW post in Salt Springs Florida which is south of Ocala in the Ocala National Forest.
Almost 200 people turned out for the event. Ten members of the VUMF drove up to set up the ceremony that was held after a buffet dinner. The veterans and their families were all very appreciative. They were really gratified that Vietnamese Ex-Pats would thank them over half a century later. The VUMF was enthusiastic about thanking them. The Vietnamese community here are so incredibly grateful for the freedom and the lives they have made for themselves in their adopted country but they still ache for what they lost. HD and Christina have a son and a daughter who are both commissioned officers in the US Army. If these Vietnamese immigrants could get into our public schools and talk about what it was like in the reeducation camps, I would love to see the looks on the faces of American kids. If you don't have any Vietnamese immigrant friends, I highly suggest seeking them out. They will recharge your batteries with optimism for America's future.
At the end of the evening, we had a Marine Corps Birthday cake cutting ceremony since it was November 10. Coincidentally, Cpl Griffin was born on November 10, 1945. The oldest Marine present was PFC Jack Hall who earned a Purple Heart at Iwo Jima. As luck would have it, there were no Marines in the room younger than age 55 so I got to take a bite of the cake reserved for the youngest Marine.
https://streamable.com/hbcjft
https://streamable.com/aohm6r