City of Allen commemorates Vietnam War Veterans Day

ALLEN, Texas - Vietnam War veterans gathered in Allen, Texas Friday to commemorate National Vietnam Veterans Day.

What they're saying:

On May 15, 1975, U.S. troops in southeast Asia saw the last combat of the Vietnam War.

Those who served more than 50 years ago said times were different back then.

They got little recognition, and now they want to continue to tell their story to the younger generations.

"There are fewer Vietnam veterans every day," U.S. Army specialist John Bagwell said.

Bagwell served and was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

He was the keynote speaker for the Collin County event.

"I was a disk jockey at the American forces radio station," Bagwell said.

Veterans talked about how life since then has dramatically changed. At the time, negative public opinion of the war was often directed at men and women in uniform.

"Most of us came back all alone, no one waiting at the airport or nothing like that," Collin County Vietnam Veteran of America Chapter 1122 President George Grimsley said. "It was a very different time."

Rep. Keith Self (R-TX3) is a veteran. He was finishing at West Point as the war came to an end.

"We gotta remember the times, whether you volunteered or answered the draft notice, you went and a lot of people did not," Self said.

Why you should care:

While the recognition is appreciated, Bagwell said these events are also a way for those who served to support each other.

"I think there is something therapeutic just talking about it and I think it's important for the American people to learn what we did," Bagwell said.

North Vietnamese war veteran Nguyen van Nghia visiting w. his former foe, now close friend Paul Reed, a Vietnam war vet who is showing him names of the Amer. men he knew, listed on the Texas Vietnam Memorial wall in Fair Park. (Photo by Barbara Laing

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The Vietnam Veteran Memorial at Fair Park was dedicated by President George H. Bush in 1989.

Five tablets have the names of Texans killed or missing in action.