Francis McMillan, a veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Vietnam, stands at attention with fellow veterans, Norman Cousino, also a U.S Army veteran of the Korean war, Tom Travis, and Rick Clark, an Army veteran who served during the Vietnam war, although was not deployed in Vietnam, at the Spanish-American war memorial at the Greenfield public library during a past year’s Memorial Day parade.
Francis McMillan, a veteran of the U.S. Army who served in Vietnam, stands at attention with fellow veterans, Norman Cousino, also a U.S Army veteran of the Korean war, Tom Travis, and Rick Clark, an Army veteran who served during the Vietnam war, although was not deployed in Vietnam, at the Spanish-American war memorial at the Greenfield public library during a past year’s Memorial Day parade. Credit: Recorder file photo/Matt Burkhartt

GREENFIELD — Residents will have a chance to honor veterans of the Vietnam War at this Thursday’s Veterans Recognition Day ceremony.

The ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Mall on Main Street, will include guest speakers and a moment of silence, and will be followed by a free lunch for veterans at the Elks Club on Church Street.

The ceremony is being held to honor the roughly 300 Vietnam-era veterans verified by the city, as well as the six Greenfield residents who were killed in action during the Vietnam War, according to Tim Niejadlik, director of Franklin County Veterans Services.

“We’re trying to find a way to honor them,” Niejadlik said. “The largest percentage of veterans in the area are Vietnam veterans.”

This year’s ceremony includes the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive —where North Vietnam and Viet Cong forces coordinated attacks on targets in South Vietnam — one of the war’s most significant military campaigns.

Guest speakers for the ceremony will include Mayor William Martin, a Vietnam veteran who served as a combat medic for the First Air Cavalry Division Airmobile, and Ashfield resident John Chadwick, whose brother Frank Chadwick died in the war, according to Niejadlik.

For more information, including confirming Vietnam-era veteran status, you can call Franklin County Veterans Services at 413-772-1571.

You can reach Dan Desrochers at:

ddesrochers@recorder.com

413-772-0261, ext. 257