POTTSTOWN >> “The somberness of this day cannot be lost on any of you.”
That was how U.S. Navy Capt. Robert Boyce, retired commanding officer of the USS Florida, began his address to the dozens of veterans present in Memorial Park Saturday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Vietnam memorial in Pottstown.
“You are veterans who have suffered more coming back from that battle than most,” said Boyce, who served as the keynote speaker. “I personally walked across the Columbia University campus with three of my fellow officers from a wedding and as I got to the middle of the campus, we were surrounded by students and we were spit on. We were in uniforms coming from a wedding and it was probably one of the lowest points of my naval career.”
Saturday’s celebration of the memorial was peppered with poignant reminders of some of the sacrifices and hardships faced by Vietnam veterans both overseas and after their return home. State Sen. Bob Mensch and state Reps. Tim Hennessey and Tom Quigley, along with Pottstown Mayor Sharon Valentine-Thomas, addressed the men and women in the park with words of thanks and appreciation for their service. Following their remarks and a bagpipe rendition of “American the Beautiful,” veterans were recognized for their dedication to creating a tangible and lasting thank you to vets who were never given one.
“Back in May 1993 we broke ground,” said Frank Strunk, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 565. “We had a vision … it took us three years and $130,000. We’re not in debt, nor ever were. We generated this money by contributions. We went around to various organizations in Pottstown and out of Pottstown and the bricks you see took us over the edge and we were able to build the memorial.”
The memorial, located in Memorial Park off King and Manatawny streets, was dedicated in 1996 and features a bronze statue of a soldier reaching his hand out, designed and constructed by a local artist and retired marine. The statue is surrounded by walkways paved with bricks bearing the names of veterans. The walkways are accented with 26 flowering plum and cherry trees for each one of the KIA’s and one for all POW-MIA’s, each individually lit and bearing the name, birth year and year of death for each person. The walkways then wrap around to the front of a gazebo dedicated to Gold Star families, where the ceremony was centered Saturday.
Following the presentation of awards, veterans were saluted and dismissed with a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace.
“People who could come out came out,” said Terry Foulke, a U.S. Navy veteran and one of the organizers of the ceremony. “I hope they had a nice day. I hope they had a couple hours that were nice and that it was worth their time to be here, to meet some of the people that did this stuff and to learn some stuff about the guys who went to Vietnam and didn’t come home.”
