North Texans honor Vietnam veteran with his final welcome home
FORNEY, Texas - Dozens of people gathered in a Forney neighborhood Saturday afternoon to welcome home a Vietnam War veteran.
Jerry Thompson left a Rockwall County VA home on hospice.
A veterans group escorted his ambulance back to the neighborhood, with help from Forney and Kaufman police.
Thompson's grandson, a paramedic, actually got to drive the ambulance.
Thompson served in Vietnam as combat corpsman, and has two Purple Hearts.
His family asked neighbors and other veterans to take part in the big welcome home to thank him for his service.
"Watching all these people here, to love and support him. It’s love and support he never received when he came home originally,” Thompson’s granddaughter, Nicole Piccola, said. “Some of these veterans were spit on and cussed at. We get to redo that and give him the homecoming he always deserved."
People from all over North Texas traveled to Forney to be a part of Thompson's final homecoming.
