SWAMPSCOTT — The community rallied at the town’s Senior Center on Friday morning for a breakfast honoring the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.
Community members and public officials, including U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, state Sen. Brendan Crighton, and state Rep. Jenny Armini, gathered for the event hosted by the E.F. Gilmore DAV.
Jeffrey Blonder, commander of the DAV, began the ceremony by emphasizing the importance of recognizing veterans’ sacrifices.
Mike Sweeney, director of Lynn and Swampscott Veteran Services, also addressed the crowd.
“Every year we come together around this time, and it’s easy to say thank you for service to people who didn’t hear it right away,” Sweeney said. “I think it was President Reagan who spoke about how Vietnam veterans, in a large way, taught us about forgiveness, but that doesn’t mean we forget, and it’s the idea that forgiveness is more for you than someone else.”
“One of the things I’m proud of is the knowledge that this doesn’t happen by accident — it takes resources and people willing to do the work,” Sweeney continued. He expressed his gratitude to Interim Town Administrator and Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta and Select Board Chair MaryEllen Fletcher for their ongoing support of veterans.
During the event, Blonder asked all veterans present to form an orderly line, handing each a ceremonial coin as a gesture of respect for their service.
Andrea Gayle-Bennett, deputy secretary of the Executive Office of Veteran Services, spoke next.
“Thank you for your service, thank you for your sacrifice, and for keeping our country safe,” Gayle-Bennett said.
Gayle-Bennett also shared facts about women who served during the Vietnam War, noting that more than 250,000 military and civilian women served worldwide during the time, with roughly 11,000 military women serving in-country. While 90% of these women were nurses, others served in communications, intelligence, air traffic control, and administrative positions.
She paused to honor eight Army nurses who lost their lives, reading their names aloud: Capt. Elanor Grace Alexander, 2nd Lt. Pamela Dorothy Donovan, 2nd Lt. Carol Ann Elizabeth Drazba, Lt. Col. Annie Ruth Graham, 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Ann Jones, 1st Lt. Sharon Ann Lane, 1st Lt. Hedwig Diane Orlowski, and Capt. Mary Therese Klinker.
“I often speak about the way Vietnam veterans were treated once they came home, and I speak as a veteran who fought an unpopular war, and yet I was treated as a hero when I came home, welcomed by a grateful nation, and that of course was not the same when you came home from Vietnam,” Moulton said.
Moulton also discussed presidents who served in the military – and specifically noted those who managed to avoid the draft, such as George W. Bush and Donald Trump.
“The only two presidents that we have from the Vietnam era, so far, both dodged the draft to get out of service, and I don’t think that’s right,” he said.
Moulton concluded, “Thank you on this anniversary for your service back then, and all you’ve done since. We stand by you, we respect you, and we thank you.”
