Legionnaire receives “Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran” proclamation

Legionnaire receives “Welcome Home Vietnam Veteran” proclamation

On March 25, 2014, Michael Chapman, Clallam County commissioner, presented the Clallam County's "Welcome Home, Vietnam Veterans Day" proclamation to Norm Goodin, a Vietnam veteran and American Legion Post 29 member.

The proclamation declares March 30 as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day for the state of Washington – the date the last combat troops withdrew from Vietnam.

“This proclamation is the welcome home we didn’t get at the end of the war when we came back from our tours, it was pretty bad,” Goodin said. “In 2000, I thought about this for 30 years, and I decided to write something, designating the end of the Vietnam War as a ‘Welcome Home to Vietnam Veterans.’ So I worked on this thing for months, sent it to Gov. Chris Gregoire, they tuned it up some, and in 2010 on Feb. 2, the governor signed it.”

Goodin thanked the commissioners, “Thank you so much. I appreciate that Clallam County recognizes it.”

Chapman said, “Norm has now become a legacy and the proclamation shall live on. What you started with continues and will be a permanent record, and this board shall pass this proclamation every year in honor of all Vietnam veterans.”

County Commissioner Jim McEntire concluded, “If anybody ever thinks that their efforts don’t matter in the grand flow of life, all you got to do is look at a guy like Norm who took a task on and he changed things and now great things happened because of his efforts. People do matter and their efforts matter. You can bring about change. Norm is an example of how you do that.”

A ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 30, at the Clallam County Veterans Center, 261 S. Francis St., Port Angeles, with a coffee social for all veterans from 11 a.m to 1 p.m. and a ceremony beginning at 1 will be followed by a luncheon.

“This event is for every veteran in every war,” Norm Said.

PROCLAMATION

Recognizing March 30 as Welcome home Vietnam veterans day

WHEREAS, on Feb. 2, 2010, Gov. Gregoire signed a proclamation declaring every March 30 in Washington state as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” after the tireless efforts of Vietnam veteran Norman Goodin to have this day officially recognized; and

WHEREAS, March 30, 2014, represents the 41th anniversary of the end of the American involvement in the Vietnam conflict; and

WHEREAS, thousands of brave Americans served our country in this conflict with courage, honor, and valor; and

WHEREAS, more than 58,000 individuals made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam and more than 300,000 more were wounded in combat; and

WHEREAS, 2,086 Americans are still missing and unaccounted for from the Vietnam conflict, and their families, friends, and fellow veterans still endure uncertainty concerning their fate.

NOW, THEREFORE, WE THE BOARD OF CLALLAM COUNTY COMMISSIONERS hereby proclaim
March 30 as

WELCOME HOME VIETNAM VETERANS DAY

in Clallam County and urge all citizens to join in this special observance and take the opportunity to honor and thank our Vietnam veterans for all they have given in the service of our country.

Signed this twenty-fifth day of March 2014

In 2007, both the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate passed resolutions proclaiming March 30th as National “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.”