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mypapernow > "You don't have enough time in your life to figure out all Jerry has done for the Vietnam veterans," said Stephen Inguanta, left, about Jerold A. "Jerry" Klein, center, who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and today is Florida's State Council President of the Vietnam Veterans of America. The group was founded in 1978 on the principle that "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." At right is Mike Bousher of Palm Harbor, the group's second vice president.
mypapernow > Jerold A. "Jerry" Klein served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and today is Florida's State Council President of the Vietnam Veterans of America, founded in 1978 on the founding principle that "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." Below is the text of the speech Klein gave Oct. 30, 2009, at the opening day ceremony for the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall at Hillsboro Memorial Gardens in Brandon, Fla. Jerry Klein's Remarks: Good morning, ladies and gentleman. Thank you for inviting me to present a few remarks about the memorial, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that was dedicated in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 13, 1982. I was privileged to be in attendance in Washington, D.C., on that very cold November day. I am pleased to play a small part in the opening ceremony here in Brandon, Florida. However, prior to the dedication of the memorial in Washington, D.C., a controversy arose regarding the design of the memorial. As a member of Vietnam Veterans of American Chapter No. 11, Suffolk County, N.Y., I became involved in that controversy. Maya Lin's conception was to create an opening, or a wound in the earth, to symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiers. The design was initially controversial for what was an unconventional and non-traditional design for a war memorial. The initial impression of hte design as it was presented to the members of Chapter No. 11 was that the proposal was just a hole in the ground. In the days before the Internet and instant communications, the description of the project proposal led VVA Chapter No. 11's leadership to instruct me, as the state council delegate to the New York State Council Vietnam Veterans of America, to register an opinion to oppose the conceptual design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at a meeting of our state concil. When local opposition reached the members of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, they contacted the leaders of Chapter No. 11 and visited Long Island to present the actual design to the chapter members. Once our members had a chance to see the design up close and personal, the opposition melted. I was immediately contacted at our VVA State Council meeting and instructed to suppor the Maya Lin design. The rest is history. The memorial has since become an important pilgrimmage site for relatives and friends of the American military casualties in Vietnam, and personal tokens and mementos are left at the wall daily in their memory. My involvement in Veterans issues today is a result of many factors, not least of which can be attributed to my visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in November 1982. In 1985 I became the first Vietnam veteran hired by Suffolk County, N.Y., as a veterans counselor. Since that day I have dedicated my life by assisting veterans in their dealings with the Department of Veterans Affairs. I am reminded daily of the sacrifice the Vietnam generation made for our country during the many sessions of benefits counseling I conduct at the Veterans Administration Readjustment Counseling Center in Lake Worth, Fla., and the many years of volunteering at the Vet Center in Babylon, N.Y., and the Northport V.A. Hospital inpatient PTSD program. VVA has a slogan that is generated from the memories of 40 years ago, when Vietnam veterans were not readily accepted by our veteran contemporaries: "Never Again Will One Generation Of Veterans Abandon Another." The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was designed and built to become a memorial to provide healing for our generation. It has, in fact, become more a symbol to our nation to honor the men and women who serve our nation.
mypapernow > Members of the Brandon High School Junior ROTC participated in the opening ceremony for the Oct. 29 through Nov. 1, 2009 display of the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall at Hillsboro Memorial Gardens in Brandon, Fla. As a tribute "to those who served," the traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., also known as "The Wall," stands 240 feet long and eight feet high. According to Dignity Memorial, its wall replica has been displayed in "more than 200 cities throughout the nation." To date, "millions of visitors have seen and touched its black, mirror-like surface inscribed with the names of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for flag and country." The traveling replica, like The Wall in the nation's capital, is inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 Americans who died or are missing in Vietnam. Called both America's longest and most divisive war, the Vietnam War saw nearly 2.7 million Americans serving in the war zone. Pictured from Brandon High are, from left, Erik Vega, Elizabeth Saenz, Dennis Spiker, Christian Bloom, and Nick Davidson.
mypapernow > Representing the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association of Florida at the 2009 Greater Brandon Fourth of July Parade.
mypapernow > The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 787 of Tampa, followed by the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association of Florida.
mypapernow > The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 787 of Tampa, followed by the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association of Florida.
mypapernow > MOST VIEWS JULY '08: Brandon's Fourth Of July Parade: A Grand Tradition Brought To You By The President's Roundtable photo
mypapernow > MOST VIEWS JULY '08: Brandon's Fourth Of July Parade: A Grand Tradition Brought To You By The President's Roundtable photo
mypapernow > MOST VIEWS JULY '08: Brandon's Fourth Of July Parade: A Grand Tradition Brought To You By The President's Roundtable photo
"You don't have enough time in your life to figure out all Jerry has done for the Vietnam veterans," said Stephen Inguanta, left, about Jerold A. "Jerry" Klein, center, who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and today is Florida's State Council President of the Vietnam Veterans of America. The group was founded in 1978 on the principle that "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." At right is Mike Bousher of Palm Harbor, the group's second vice president.
mypapernow > "You don't have enough time in your life to figure out all Jerry has done for the Vietnam veterans," said Stephen Inguanta, left, about Jerold A. "Jerry" Klein, center, who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and today is Florida's State Council President of the Vietnam Veterans of America. The group was founded in 1978 on the principle that "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." At right is Mike Bousher of Palm Harbor, the group's second vice president.
"You don't have enough time in your life to figure out all Jerry has done for the Vietnam veterans," said Stephen Inguanta, left, about Jerold A. "Jerry" Klein, center, who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 and today is Florida's State Council President of the Vietnam Veterans of America. The group was founded in 1978 on the principle that "Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another." At right is Mike Bousher of Palm Harbor, the group's second vice president.
See photo in original gallery.
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