By Catherine Richard
Cris Vieyra, Marine Corps Sergeant and veteran of the Vietnam War will be speaking at the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans ceremony on November 11 at 10 a.m., at the Natalia Veterans Memorial.
The goal of the event is to “welcome home the veterans who never got the recognition they deserved,” said Ruby Vera, a Natalia Alderman and one of the main organizers of the event.
“I want the small community veterans to come together,” Vieyra said.
Vieyra pointed out that many veterans return from their service and feel estranged from the people they once knew and the place they once called home, not speaking about their service or seeking support.
This is especially pronounced for Vietnam Veterans, who were in many cases ostracized upon their return from service by anti-war protesters.
“I never told anyone I was a Vietnam Veteran,” Vieyra said.
Vieyra had joined the Marine Corps on August 2, 1964, mere months after graduating from his high school in San Antonio.
“No draft, no war, strictly volunteered,” Vieyra said.
The military was offering four years of school for four years of service. Wanting to go to college but lacking the funds, it seemed like a good deal for Vieyra.
Because of this, Vieyra, a private first class at the time, did not expect much when he departed with 30,000 other marines from Camp Pendleton on Sept. 2, 1966 on a ship for what was supposedly a training exercise.
It came as a surprise, then, when on the second day at sea, he and the other marines were told by their captain that they were being deployed to Vietnam.
Sure enough, weeks later, Vieyra landed with the second wave of Marines on the beaches of Chu Lai, which was only 30 miles away from the Ho Chi Minh trail, one of the supply lines for the Viet Cong fighters.
“It’s a different world,” Vieyra said.
The first wave of U.S. troops had come through already and had secured the area. The job of the second wave was to hold it.
Part of Vieyra ended up working with the Navy Seabees, guarding them as they cleared out the dense jungles to prevent ambushes from the guerrilla fighters.
“Their job was to move the jungle back. And they did,” Vierya said. “My job was to ride with this guy on the bulldozer and make sure he doesn’t get shot by a sniper.”
“All you are doing is looking,” Vieyra said. “You better hope you are not the Marine who fails to do his job.”
With the placement of their base next to the Ho Chi Minh trail, one of his unit’s jobs was to cut the supply line which was bringing resources from north to south.
Eventually, in the November of 1967, Vieyra’s deployment came to an end. He was sent home with around 270 Marines, back to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, a base which is no longer open.
It was at this point that he was faced with the realities of the anti-war sentiments that were raging in America.
As they stepped off the plane, the Marines were greeted by protesters.
“They were screaming ‘go home, baby-killers, we don’t want you here,’” Vieyra said.
It was because of this pressure that Vieyra and other veterans felt compelled to conceal their military service and time in the Vietnam War.
Vieyra decided to finish his four year enlistment and then retire.
“The good Lord had blessed me with coming home,” Vieyra said. “I did not need to push my luck again.”
After serving as an sergeant for a year at Camp Pendleton in California, Vieyra returned to San Antonio with his wife and son.
Vieyra got a job as a construction worker, partly because the company did not require him to talk about his military record.
After about six years in construction, he decided to apply for a job that could utilize his skill set from the Marine Corps.
“I can run forever and shoot whatever I’m aiming at,” said Vieyra. “So I became a San Antonio police officer for the next 30 years.”
It was not until 2009 that he began to look at his time in Vietnam differently.
After his retirement from the SAPD, he and his wife went on a road trip to Mount Rushmore.
While they were there, a ceremony was held to honor veterans. The announcer of the ceremony named the America’s different wars, and any veterans from that war would stand up. That is, until she asked veterans of the Vietnam War to stand up.
Vieyra looked around him. No one stood up.
The announcer repeated herself. Finally, one veteran stood up. Suddenly, dozens of others stood up along with him. The announcer asked them to come up to the stage and say their name and rank.
“Some of them couldn’t even say their names, they were bawling.”
This experience changed Vierya.
“In 2009, my whole goal changed,” Vieyra said. “I was now a veteran who was proud to be a veteran.”
After years of hiding his military history, he began to get involved with his local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Now, Vieyra has made it his mission to help other veterans, both young and old.
“So many times, we fall through the cracks,” said Vieyra. “Some don’t get the help they need.”
In 2012, the national Commemoration of Vietnam Veterans was authorized and launched by the president at that time, Barak Obama.
The Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Ceremony aims to bridge the divide between the different service members and the communities they live in.
With the past few ceremonies, this event has drawn in anywhere from 300-500 people from all over Medina County. Music will be provided by the Mustang Band. Streets will be closed at 9 a.m. and the ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. Veterans will be honored and relatives of veterans will be able to commemorate their loved ones.
“The help we never got is the help we give now.”
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