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HOMECOMING 2006 INFO

 
ME IN VIETNAM 66-67 3RD MARINES
Visit Worldwide Topsites


You can check out the HOMECOMING site at:

http://www.operationhomecomingusa.com/legacyevent.asp

They will be posting pics + more imfo soon from the Homecoming event.  You can also visit the Homecoming Store or get the Homecoming Video there.

MISC.  HOMECOMING  PICS FROM OTHER V/N VETS

http://www.getawaysaver.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500

http://photobucket.com/albums/a170/johninbranson/Vietnam%20Vets%20Welcome%20Home/Vietnam

 

            Senate declares March 30th Welcome Home Vietnam Vets Day

            http://www.patriotactionnetwork.com/forum/topics/senate-declares-march-30th?xg_source=msg_com_forum&id=2600775%3ATopic%3A3523093&page=12#comments

GREAT NEWS
   Press Release:Date: October 3, 2005From: Operation Homecoming BransonContact: Gary Linderer Phone: 417-335-6000Attention: News DeskFor Immediate Release  Another Vietnam Veterans Homecoming Announced in Branson, Missouri. 

Operation Homecoming Branson, is proud to announce a second Vietnam veteran’s homecoming to be held in Branson, Missouri. The impact on the vets who attended last year’s event and the healing that occurred mandated a repeat performance,” stated Gary Linderer, Vietnam veteran and one of the founders of Operation Homecoming USA. “More Vietnam vets need to experience a real welcome home celebration," said Linderer.  A new company, Operation Homecoming Branson, has been established to carry on that legacy.

 

"We’ve added a number of new events to this year’s homecoming," Linderer pointed out.  “We’ve also simplified the registration process, reduced the costs for the vets and their families, established a veterans’ locator service for those attending the event, and added a weapons range, a Native American pow wow, and air assault demonstrations during the week.  In addition, we expanded the Saturday concert to a 2-day Heartland Benefit Concert that will aid a number of charities, among them The Wounded Warrior Project, the Branson Veterans Task Force, and Operation Troop Aid.”

 

Rob Frank, executive producer for the event, is excited about the national entertainers who have already committed to help make this second homecoming a huge success.  “We’ve contacted a number of “A” List and “B” List artists for the Branson On Revue Concert and the Heartland Benefit Concerts.  It’s an impressive slate of talent and should guarantee a capacity crowd.”

“We’ve contracted with Neste Event Marketing, a Nashville event management company, to handle the operations end of the event,” stated Frank.  “Neste is the premiere management team for live entertainment concerts.”

 

“This year, we’ve brought on a national publicist to help us promote the homecoming.  Webster and Associates, also out of Nashville, will add a whole new dimension to reaching Vietnam veterans across the nation,” added Frank.

   

The 8-day event will begin on Sunday, June 11, 2006 and run through Sunday, June 18.  Scheduled events include a Pro/Am bass tournament, a golf outing, a military weapons range, a Native American pow wow, an awards presentation ceremony, a homecoming parade, Branson On Revue Concert, and the weekend Heartland Benefit Concert.  Once again the skies over Branson will be full of Vietnam vintage helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.  Huey rides will be available for those vets wanting to share old thrills with their wives and children, or just enjoy a little dayjavu.

 

“Our Vietnam vets and their families are in for a very special homecoming this year,” announced Barb Linderer, executive vice president of Operation Homecoming Branson.  “Everyone who attended last year’s event shared a marvelous experience.  It’s a shame these men and women had to wait so long to receive the homecoming they deserved.  They are special, and they deserve to be treated that way.  That is why we selected Branson, Missouri to host this event.  We know that the people of Branson will treat them special.  It’s a way of life here.”  “We’ll announce our list of entertainers at a national press conference in Nashville in the middle of November,” Gary Linderer declared.  Nashville and Branson have come together in a big way to show their appreciation and support for Vietnam veterans.  We’re excited about Welcome Home 2006.  I only wish every Vietnam vet could be here for it.”

 

For more information about Welcome Home 2006, go to www.welcomehome2006.org or call 1-800-335-4587.

 

11/10/05 just a note:  this website is still under construction. 

Janice Sarver
Operation Homecoming Branson
1756 Bee Creek Rd
Branson, MO 65616
Phone # 417/335-6000   Fax 417/334-8632
email:  jsarv@welcomehome2006.org

Vets Gaining Back Pride, Medals

Associated Press  |  August 05, 2005

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Still in his Army greens, William Tallerdy barely had both feet back on American soil when a man came up to him, demanding to know if he was returning from Vietnam. Then, right there in the airport, the heckler punched the veteran in the face.

Tallerdy exploded. The police and his relatives had to restrain him.

Soon after, he threw out his war ribbons. That was 1967.

"I was always proud of my military service," said Tallerdy, who is now 57 and lives in Cheyenne, Wyo. "It was just that people made me feel like scum."

Tallerdy wasn't alone. Many returning Vietnam veterans, faced with a hostile public, threw out their medals. Some, like former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, even did it in public as an act of protest. Others simply tossed them in drawers and foot lockers - if out of sight, perhaps out of mind.

Four decades and a nation friendlier to the military, though, have helped a number of veterans come to terms with their service. Now, they regard their medals with a renewed sense of pride - and are replacing them or dusting them off.

"We made peace with the former enemy," said Bob Kerrey, a former Nebraska senator who earned the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. "And we made peace with a former enemy that had defeated us, which is extremely hard to do."

Tallerdy requested his Purple Heart medal a few years ago. Today, the replacement is in a cabinet alongside eagle figurines, dog tags and other war memorabilia.

The Pentagon doesn't keep statistics on replacement medals, according to spokeswoman Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke. The anecdotal evidence from the veterans themselves, however, suggests the numbers are high.

While Tallerdy displays his Purple Heart in his living room, William Muns shows off his honors - among them the Good Conduct and Vietnam service medals - on the wall of his office in Beaver County, Pa., where he is the county's director of veterans affairs.

Muns had stashed his medals and his uniform inside a foot locker when he came home in January 1968. He wanted to move on. He never talked about the war, not even with his family.

Then, five years ago, his wife brought his medals out and created a shadow box for him.

"'You were there. You were exposed. You were put in harm's way,'" Muns recalled her telling him.

Many who served in Vietnam, Muns said, are in the process of "coming out" as the passage of time has changed feelings about that war.

"Today we're showing ourselves because we want those men that are active right now to know that they are welcome and they are being supported," Muns said.

Honored though he was, John Wallace packed up his medals because he just didn't want to relive that moment when he helped men out of a downed helicopter before a B-52 strike.

That changed in 1989 when Wallace began doing advocacy work for veterans.

"The doors started opening up in my mind," Wallace said. "I was feeling better, I was relating more to my brothers in arms than I was to the civilians."

Now, he's president of the Vietnam Veterans of America state council in Maine and keeps his medals, which include the Bronze Star and Air Medal, on the wall in his computer room.

"They see that and it sort of makes them feel better," Wallace said of younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. "They can ask about how I got them, I can explain to them how I got them. It makes them feel better because what I went through was maybe worse than what they went through."

Tallerdy traveled to Branson, Mo., last month for the first Operation Homecoming USA, a weeklong tribute to Vietnam veterans. The experience moved him profoundly.

"I think now," he said, "it's almost become prestigious to say that you're a Vietnam veteran."

HOMECOMING REPORT FROM WINGMAN

I just drove in from Branson, an 8 hour and 45 minute trip and I haven’t slept much for the last several days. So please forgive me for errors in punctuation and grammar but I thought it was important to give you a first hand account from a Veteran who was there. We arrived late in Branson Wednesday night due to the fact that my wife was not able to get out of work early from her night shift and the traffic was backed up from an accident on I-44 on the way to Branson. We arrived at the Comfort Suites and Inn on Gretna Rd. at approximately 7:00 p.m. and dropped off our luggage and immediately went to the Grand Place to see the Wall. When I arrived at the Grand Palace, I was immediately greeted with Welcome Home from my fellow veterans and handshakes and this continued no matter where I went in the Grand Palace Area. I don’t know why I keep doing that, going to the Wall. I have visited the Wall in D.C. two times and never have I been able to walk the full length without breaking down. After spending a couple of hours at the Grand Palace talking with the others vets I realized that we needed to eat something before we went to bed. As I was driving around, I remember that the Cracker Barrel stayed open late so we went there to eat. We arrived at 10 minutes tell ten and they told us we could take as long as we wanted. I didn’t want to take advantage of them so we ordered and ate very quickly. After we ate, I came out on the porch and there was a Marine standing there with long white hair. You know the kind that looks really tough that you wouldn’t want to mess with. I walked up to him and said “Brother, what happened to you, you are so old?” He first looked at me like I must have lost my mind and then I smiled and said we are all so old. He smiled back at me and said Welcome Home and then gave me a bear hug. That is the way it was all week, we were all totally accepting of each other and were happy that each one of us had made it home. We have been very busy for the last several days and the last few days have been amongst the most glorious, I have spent in my life. I was with my true family/my true brothers & sisters and we shared something I could never hope to express to anyone that is not a Vietnam Veteran. Even though the vast majority of the vets were made up of Army and Marines and even though I’m an Air Force Veteran I was accepted as one of them - it made no difference. I was amongst some true American Heroes that had won silver stars, bronze stars, air medals etc. There were even a few who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor, yet we were as one, regardless of our former rank or branch of service.

The problems as we had discussed in the past with the organization that was responsible for setting this all up continued, but regardless we enjoyed each others company through the griping and complaints about some of the greediness and disorganization we seen during the week especially at the finale on Saturday. Many of us are convinced that they were those whose primary purpose was too made a windfall of profit. Regardless of that, the people of Branson totally came through in everything that could be expected of a city that claims to love Veterans - They do, and they continually showed it the whole time we were there. It seemed there was not enough they could do for us to make us feel welcomed and show how much they appreciated us. The parade last Friday was ideal. I was in the first Duck, the one painted with the Operations Homecoming banner along with my wife. I had requested special permission to bring her along because she is a former VA Nurse and deeply loves and appreciates Veterans. I could not believe the large turnout of people from Branson that lined the parade route and the salutes and the joy expressed and the many people shouting Welcome Home. It was far above anything, I believe any of us ever expected. Every Vet I spoke to was so very appreciative of what Branson has done for them.



Please remember this night & every night, before you go to bed to pray for our current troops now serving. These are great people, fine young men and women with a great attitude. I went up to one of them at the finale concert Saturday and took off a V for Victory Pin that I had worn on my Veterans Hat and presented it to a young PFC. He was astonished that I would do that for him. I told him that I was giving this to him as it stood for Our Victory in the war on Terrorism. He said to me, Sir I will wear this when I'm deployed to Iraq and I told him we all would be praying for his safe return.

2006 event already in the works

By Beckie Ferguson
BDN Staff Writer

What was intended to be a one-time event could very well turn into a Branson tradition.

In the aftermath of the tribute to Vietnam veterans in Branson, organizers say the weeklong event was a resounding success, if not financially, at least emotionally, and they intend to hold a similar fest next year.

"We're going to try to do it again," Operation Homecoming USA President Gary Linderer said this week. "Exactly what it will be, we don't know yet."

The first-ever tribute of its kind was the brainchild of Linderer, who is himself a Vietnam veteran. The idea to hold the "welcome home" event came out of a conversation between Linderer and another Branson veteran of the Vietnam War, Steve Presley.

Linderer said for the first tribute, Operation Homecoming USA hired an outside agency to manage the event, but next year, the management will remain in-house.

"We learned a lot this year," he said. "We won't be spending the money we spent to hire outsiders when we feel that we can do the job ourselves in the future."

He said despite some coordination glitches and cost overruns, the event accomplished what was intended.

"It was enough to satisfy the vets," he said. "I didn't hear a single complaint about the way they were treated. All of them said that everywhere they went, people were saying, 'welcome home' and 'thank you for your service to America.'"

Officials report that a half-million baseball fans stood in tribute to Vietnam veterans as major league teams across the country recognized them during the seventh inning stretch of their games.

Linderer said locally, more than 50,000 visits were made to the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall Experience during the week; 32,000 participants stayed in Branson and Springfield hotels; and several thousand watched or participated in the parade. Linderer estimated that between 12,000 and 15,000 people attended the grand finale concert and air show held at Saddlebrooke north of Branson.

Jim Amos, chairman of Operation Homecoming USA, said he traveled through three airports on his way home from the event and was greeted in each one by people donning "Welcome Home" T-shirts and ball caps.

E-mails, phone calls and personal messages have been pouring into Operation Homecoming's headquarters, according to its staff.

Linderer said the reception given to the Vietnam veterans bodes well for the future.

"The people of Branson outdid themselves," he said. "They showed those veterans that this is what Branson is all about. Those veterans left here knowing that Branson is the place for veterans to come and be honored and all those who attended will go home and tell other veterans what they missed and those veterans are going to want to come here, too."

Many veterans who attended from all over the country, and as far away as Australia, expressed those sentiments.

"It's fantastic to have this event to honor us," Joe Kish, of Allentown Penn., said. "It's something we've been denied for over 30 years. It's long overdue."

Burnis Coleman, of Willard, offered like comments.

"It's more than 35 years overdue," Coleman said. "No matter how far away this was being held, I would have gone to it. It's about time and it means so much to finally be recognized and honored instead of disgraced."

MY FRIEND STEVE'S NEW BOOK

Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT: PUBLICATION OF MY FIRST NOVEL. ... AVAILABLE SOON..

AVAILABLE FOR THE HOLDIAYS .... DEC 26, '05.

I am proud to announce (and please, my ego needs it ... ) the publication of
my first novel, planned for release officially on December 26, 2005..

Available by Mail order only, from
PUBLISHAmerica LLC, Baltimore MD
www.PublishAmerica.Com

"PBR: Flowerchild"
By Steve Mungie
ISBN 104241-0380-0
(ORDER ON-LINE BY ISBN NUMBER)
.95 IF ORDERED DIRECTLY BY EMAIL FROM THE PUBLISHER. 
AND MORE ON THE BOOKSHELVES (in 2006)


SEE MY WEBPAGE ABOUT THIS BOOK AT
http://hometown.aol.com/pbrflowerchild/

"A wild and irreverant story about life on the Rivers of Vietnam, circa 1969,
with the taste, flair and comedy that made M*A*S*H the story of the Korean
era, famous.

This fictional story is about a band of sailors, who inadvertantly stumble
onto a conspiracy so wild and unbelievable, that they find themselves catapulted
into a nightmare they are not sure how they will survive. 

They are forced by circumstances to not only lie to their commanders, and do
what is probably quite illegal, breaking more laws and regulations that are on
the books,
to solve the mystery of why their boats are being attacked by forces who know
more than they should about what they should not ..... as they desperately
search for the answer ... WHO or WHAT is 'FLOWERCHILD'?? "

Over three hundred pages of wild fun, lying, women chasing, drinking,
fighting
(both with fists and guns) that Vietnam probably ever saw,
and all within less than a year's time.   And they had a lot of fun doing it
.... "


Steve Mungie
Alabama
The Notorious "Wounded Bear"
Wndbear@aol.com


If you have any questions, comments, or would like to add a pic to this site please contact me at

MarineVet66To68@aol.com