Local Vietnam veterans will receive their long-awaited welcome home during a special tribute April 30, nearly 50 years after the conflict ended.
- The Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce is organizing “Honoring our Heroes: Welcome Home, a Tribute to Vietnam Veterans” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the war’s conclusion.
“Every year, we as a Chamber look through the military history in our area and see what happened here that we can honor. April 30, 1975, stood out to us because it’s the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam conflict,” said Ted Corcoran, CEO of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber.
The banquet will take place at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Fairgrounds and Event Center from 5 to 8:15 p.m.
- Featured speakers include Rocky Bleier, a Vietnam veteran who won four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers; Dale Dye, an actor, military consultant and Vietnam veteran; and Col. Ed Hubbard, who spent more than six years as a prisoner of war.
“I think the reason this one is so important is because people can relate to it, because their dads or their grandfathers who are still in town,” Corcoran said. “Everyone, for the most part, knows somebody who was in Vietnam.”
Corcoran said the event aims to correct how veterans were treated when they returned home.
“In my opinion, one of the most famous Vietnam veterans is Rocky Bleier,” Corcoran said. “He graduated from Notre Dame in 1967 after they won the national championship, then he got drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then he gets drafted by the Army simultaneously.”
Bleier was injured in Vietnam and took two years to recover before rejoining the Steelers for four Super Bowl victories.
Dye, the second featured speaker, represents another aspect of Vietnam’s legacy.
- “When you think about Vietnam for me specifically, it’s the movies — Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket,” Corcoran said. “Dale Dye was in Vietnam, also got a Purple Heart, and when he retired from the Marines, he started a company that assists directors to make battle scenes or war movies.”
Dye’s work includes “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific,” “Saving Private Ryan” and “Forrest Gump.”
Col. Hubbard, a local resident known for speaking about his POW experience, will deliver the closing remarks.
“Ed Hubbard was the only guy when we were planning this event that I knew was a Vietnam veteran in this whole town, because he’s based his life on talking about his experiences over six years, seven months, 12 days in captivity as a POW,” Corcoran said. “He’s spellbinding with his story.”
The event will recognize other local Vietnam veterans including Howard Hill, Dick Rynearson, John Wambough and Tom Moody. Artist John Mollison has created artwork depicting planes flown by each of the local Vietnam veterans. Limited edition prints featuring all five aircraft will be available for purchase.
- Larger individual posters will be displayed at community locations for the public to sign with messages of appreciation.
Community members can sign these commemorative paintings at five local businesses: Eglin Federal Credit Union, thrIVefwb, Emerald Coast Harley-Davidson, Magnolia Grill and the Air Force Armament Museum.
“The military is the bread and butter of our community, and everyone loves the military — we’re red, white and blue,” Corcoran said. “People tell us this is the most welcoming community in the country.”Tickets for the banquet are $40, which includes a buffet dinner, and are available online.
