Anderson, with the Minot Disabled American Veterans, was a speaker at the Vietnam War Veterans Day event that brought many local veterans to the Minot Municipal Auditorium Monday, March 30. March 29 is designated National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Minot’s event included meals for up to 150 veterans and booths set up by veteran support organizations. Aaron Moss, outreach specialist with this year’s organizer, the Minot Vet Center, said veterans appreciate the chance to get together with those whose experiences have created a special bond.

“The comradeship, that fellowship, rings through for the rest of their lives,” he said.

Anderson, one of the speakers at the event, spoke of the hurt that haunted Vietnam veterans for years.

JILL SCHRAMM/MDN Tony Peep and Gene Potter, both Vietnam veterans, take in the National Vietnam War Veterans Day event in Minot Monday, March 30.

“When you lose somebody close, you feel that in the heart,” he said. “But some of the war scenes that many of us saw went right through the heart and went to our souls.

“In 10 years, we lost more Vietnam veterans to suicide, drugs, alcohol, accidents than we lost in all of Vietnam,” he added.

He began healing from his own hurt in 1979 when his co-worker at a construction firm in Minnesota, also a Vietnam veteran, invited him to an outreach hosted by a mental health organization.

“I’ve never stopped healing,” Anderson said, noting the process for him included a trip back to Vietnam in 2012.

“I think all of us that went over had this feeling that we’re going to help America, stop some of the communism threatening our world and win a war,” Anderson said. “We found out pretty quick that we weren’t going to win this thing.”

JILL SCHRAMM/MDN Warren Anderson shares his veterans story at the National Vietnam War Veterans Day event in Minot Monday, March 30.

Rejected by the VFW in his home county because he fought in a conflict, not a war, Anderson recounted that Vietnam saw fierce fighting and more Medal of Honor recipients from 1966-68 than were given in the Korean War. The average age of those sent to Vietnam was 19.5 years, about three years younger than the average during the Korean War and 5.5 years younger than a World War II service member, he said.

Minot City Manager Tom Joyce, who retired as a colonel after 28 years in the U.S. Air Force, spoke about his father, who had served two tours in Vietnam and received a Bronze Star for heroic or meritorious achievement. His father joined the New Jersey Army Guard at age 14 and went on to become an Army aviator, ending his military service as commander of an aviation company of civilians engaged in intelligence gathering.

“While my dad was never truly open to me about his experiences in Vietnam, I’m grateful I can relive it a bit through the documentation and the photos,” Joyce said. “I encourage you, like Warren did today, to tell your story, to share your experiences. If it’s still too hard to talk about, which is definitely understandable, write it down or record it at your own pace, as you best remember it today. Your future generations, your family – they want to know.”

Joyce acknowledged Vietnam veterans weren’t given a welcome home due to social and political concerns over the war at the time. As time has passed, communities are extending a welcome and Vietnam veterans are responding by communicating more about their experiences, he said.

“Even though we are 50 years removed from the end of the war, it’s very common for these guys to say ‘welcome home’ to each other,” Moss said of Vietnam veterans in Minot. “It’s important that communities support their sacrifice as much as any other generation of veterans in our country.”

JILL SCHRAMM/MDN Minot City Manager Tom Joyce speaks at the National Vietnam War Veterans Day event in Minot Monday, March 30.