Vietnam veterans honored in Cape Coral

A special ceremony was held in Cape Coral on Friday in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Hosted by the Lawrence Kearny Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, a crowd of around 100 attended. The ceremony, “Service, Valor, and Sacrifice” was held at Eco Park.

Those at Lawrence Kearny told WINK News they are always working to serve the veterans who have served. They hoped to show Vietnam veterans how thankful they are for their service. Event organizers say many of these Vietnam veterans didn’t get the proper welcome home at the time.

Juan Cordero served in the Vietnam war and attended the ceremony.

“I got shot but the guy was not a good shooter. So he missed me. And for three days, I was not able to sleep because of that,” Juan Cordero Jr said.

Juan met his wife Haydee while stationed in Hawaii.

“She was stationed in the same place. She was dancing hula hula, we’ve been married now before for over forty nine years. So that was a good assignment for me,” Juan said.

The military brought these two together.

“At that time, woman were not really accepted.” Haydee Cordero said.

They weren’t accepted then, but they are today. Several Vietnam woman veterans were also honored.

One by one, each Vietnam veteran’s name was called, the audience abrupted in applause, the veteran picked up a their certificate, a pin and a gift at eco park.

“It’s just beautiful that you know, we are recognizing our veterans. And that because we were not welcome when we came back from Vietnam. So hopefully, we learn from that mistake,” Juan said.

This group of veteran’s forged together with the memories they share.

“You have to remember that we are serving the country and the best country in the world, in my opinion, the best country in the world. And I say amen to that,” Juan said.