To the editor:
On May 5 at the Caribou VFW some 250 veterans including many from the Vietnam Era and family members gathered to remember those who served in Vietnam and those who never returned but gave the ultimate sacrifice. It was one of the most moving veterans events I have ever witnessed.
One of the most emotional parts of the event was the reading of the names of those men from Aroostook County who were killed in action during the Vietnam War. The ceremony moved me to write this poem.
Vietnam Remembrance Day 2018
One by one they called out the name
Of those killed in action and from where they came.
From Ashland, Caribou and Fort Kent
Those men from Aroostook so willingly went
From Westfield, Easton no town spared it seems
For these brave men who never lived out their dreams
Some in their twenties some older too
It could have been me or it could have been you
Called off to a war that they didn’t start
All these years later still breaking hearts
Those who survived this undeclared war
Often face questions what was it all for
Never were so many brave treated so rudely
For answering the call and just doing their duty
Still those Vietnam Veterans are a special breed
Never giving up on their Comrades when they see a need
And today as we honor those who gave all
Those names now engraved on that Vietnam Wall
Let us never forget and promise in stone
To say thanks for your service and a warm welcome home
A special thanks to the Caribou VFW, the United Veterans of Maine, The American Legion and other veterans service organizations who made the event possible. To the many volunteers who prepared food for so many, the Loring Job Corps Color Guard, the cleanup crew and to all those who came out on a Saturday in May to honor and remember our Vietnam veterans.
Bill Flagg
Caribou
