VFW Post 9182 Holds Vietnam Remembrance Service
Katy Texas News
Posted February 23, 2011
The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9182 hosted a Vietnam Remembrance Service on in late January in conjunction with the Houston Vietnamese Veterans Association at the VFW Hall on George Bush Drive in Katy. The date of the service coincided with the 38th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Peace Accords on January 27, 1973 with the intention to establish peace in Vietnam and an end to the Vietnam War.
The opening ceremonies were followed by a twenty minute video showing the chronology of events from the beginning to the end of the Vietnam War. Master of Ceremonies, VFW member George Rissky, introduced the American and Vietnamese guest speakers. Brigadier General Nam Van Nguyen, who leads the local Houston Vietnamese Veterans Association, and Pastor Buu T. Chung, a former helicopter pilot with the South Vietnamese Air Force, who spent 14 years as a Prisoner Of War in North Vietnam, shared powerful personal recollections of the war. Victoria Ai Linh Bryant, who spent the first few years of her life in Vietnam stuck emotion of all in attendance as she shared her family’s story, and how grateful she is for the sacrifices made by so many to help the south Vietnamese people.
Three American Vietnam Veterans, Raul Herrera, Purple Heart recipient David Lemark and Mike Warren shared a brief depiction of their personal experiences on the battlefield. Students from Mayde Creek, Katy, Morton Ranch, Seven Lakes and Taylor High School heard first-hand how U.S. and South Vietnamese soldiers aligned to fight “side by sideâ€. The students asked thoughtful questions of a joint panel of U.S. and Vietnamese members, hearing the kind of history that’s not found in their high school text books.
The afternoon concluded at the Flag Pole on the corner of George Bush Drive and Avenue D for a wreath laying ceremony and the firing of the 21 gun salute to honor our fallen comrades.
VFW meetings are held at the VFW Hall at 6206 George Bush Drive in Katy on the first Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. preceded by a covered dish dinner at 6:15 p.m. Please mention you found this on www.KatyMagazine.com.
