BANGOR, Maine — Vietnam veterans from all over the state converged Saturday at the Cole Land Transportation Museum for a welcome home ceremony, and in the ranks was at least one veteran who waited 45 years for his homecoming.
Searsport resident retired Chief Warrant Officer Dennis Cummings, 65, who served with the 117th Assault Helicopter Company flying Huey helicopters like the one on display at the museum’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park, said he asked his father to pick him up after he returned stateside in 1969.
“I had him bring me a change of clothes. I heard about what was happening with people being spit on. I changed right in the car,” Cummings said.
After that he simply “melted right in” by only wearing his uniform on base while he served for another two years, and changing into civilian clothing when not at work.
Gov. Paul LePage called the treatment of soldiers, airmen and Marines returning from their service in Vietnam “shameful.”
“The war was started by the government. It was not started by the military,” LePage said. “When [the armed forces] were asked, they came up and fought for our nation. The American people lost sight of that.”
The ceremony was hosted by Peter W. Ogden, Bureau of Veterans’ Services director, and attended by retired Maj. Gen. John “Bill” Libby, former adjutant general of the Maine National Guard, other military leaders and LePage and his wife, Ann.
State leaders are partnering with the Department of Defense to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which escalated the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the governor’s office said in a press release.
The name, military branch, years of service, and hometown of each of the 50-plus Vietnam veterans was read over a loudspeaker, then Brig. Gens. Gerard Bolduc and John D’Errico gave them a commemorative medal and handshake; and Ann LePage gave them a hug before her husband and Ogden shook their hands.
Some of the recipients were surviving wives, daughters or friends of the veterans.
Libby was the last to go through the line.
Libby talked about the political environment that led up to the escalation of the conflict in Vietnam during his speech and said he decided not to dwell on the past but to focus on the service of those in uniform. However, he ended his time at the lectern by making a promise.
“Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” Libby said, getting around of applause. “Welcome home and God bless America.”
The symbolic ceremony allows the community to thank and honor all the Vietnam veterans who came home and those who did not, LePage said after the ceremony ended.
“I had a lot of friends who served and lost a friend who got the Congressional Medal of Honor,” the governor said.
LePage went to school with Thomas McMahon of Lewiston, who died during the war after bravely running through enemy gunfire to save two of his injured brothers-in-arms, according to the Medal of Honor website.
The Cole Land Transportation Museum’s Vietnam veterans park features a black granite monument with the names of 339 veterans from Maine who were killed or listed as missing in action.
The commemorative medals given out on Saturday show the Vietnam veterans memorial in Augusta.
“That’s your piece of the rock,” Ogden said to the veterans. “[The memorial] recognizes your service from 1961 to 1975. Everyone who served [in country or stateside] between 1961 and 1975 is a Vietnam veteran in the State of Maine.”