Susan Bysiewicz Photo
Johnny Best was filled with joy at the crowd of people who came to welcome him home Monday night — more than half a century after he returned from Vietnam.
“I didn’t think it was going to be like this,” Best said, smiling at the crowd of officials and citizens around him at a ceremony held Monday evening in Hamden Middle School’s Veteran Memorial Auditorium.
Best receiving award Monday evening.
Best, along with almost 50 veterans and their families, gathered with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Veteran Affairs Commissioner Thomas Saadi, and Mayor Lauren Garrett for the ceremony. The event was organized “in honor of the veterans who fought to defend our country’s freedoms during the Vietnam War and [paid] tribute to those lost while shining a light on the survivors and their families.”
Bysiewicz has been conducting these ceremonies to honor state veterans in communities around the state, so far focused on World War II veterans. This event was the first of those honoring those who served during Vietnam, a war around which the country was less united, leaving many veterans to feel less than honored for their service at the time.
Hamden Town Clerk Karimah Mickens helped plan Monday’s event. Mickens located over 800 living Vietnam veterans in Hamden and reached out to them.
Commissioner Saadi stated in his opening remarks that their mission was the “mission of serving those who serve.”
Olivia Charis Photo
Detective Andrea Deyo singing the anthem.
The event included remarks from officials, the Posting of the Colors by the Hamden fire and police departments, National Anthem and Pledge by Detective Andrea Deyo, personal words from veterans, and finally the presentation of individual awards. The evening concluded with the retiring of the colors, and a reception of refreshments for guests.
State officials stressed that this program is in conjunction with proposed legislation aimed at improving healthcare for veterans, including the acknowledgment and treatment of what Commissioner Saadi called “invisible wounds”: “PTSD, hyper-normality, triggers, and nightmares.”
Bysiewicz speaking to the crowd.
Bysiewicz stressed how Vietnam veterans did not receive the same celebratory welcome home that other veterans received before them.
She praised veterans’ “incredible continued commitment to service and resilience.”
She called Hamden “an incredibly patriotic town.” Another service is planned on Tuesday to honor more Vietnam veterans in town.
Johnny Best, who served in the armed forces from 1966 to1967, remembered vividly the horror of Vietnam.
“First thing is the smell, then the heat, and then you’re afraid of your own shadow,” he recalled.
“I didn’t want to talk about the war,” Best said “but about how I got there.”
He recounted being packed on a ship meant for 3,000 with over 12,000 other soldiers on his way to Vietnam, and the difficulty of their journey. Still, Best says he was more than proud to serve his country.
Veteran Ron Lewis (second from right) with Commissioner Thomas Saadi, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, and Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett.
