*** Press Coverage of Vietnam Reunion ***

[Legion Etrangere]

As you can tell from our website (now updated), none of the local Houston media covered the 2nd Annual Vietnam Veterans Reunion.

Today, I made phone calls to Channel 2, 11, 13, 26 and 39. I asked them why they were able to show nightly news coverage of the 60th Anniversary of Communist China ... yet they chose to ignore this incredible event. Comments were mostly, "I am sorry sir, you must speak with ____________." When transferred to _______, he was not there, only a voicemail - which I spent time leaving a message.

Like other ARVN events I have attended, over the past six months I have come to the conclusion that our local media here in Houston (which many would consider to be conservative) is, sadly, stridently negligent covering a major cultural event in their own (damned) city.

I asked three former ARVN officers and one co-Chair event organizer today and the comments I received were incredible: "We call up a year before, six months before, one month before and several weeks before, but they do not come out." One ARVN officer told me on the phone today that he spoken with a news reporter with a major television station and was told that the "anti-Communism is a turn off." WTF?

Channel 13 carried two paragraphs - no other local media carried anything.

Hollywood, Angielena Jolie's mole on her ass, a football players injury and other innocuous 'crap' make it on nightly news. The stories of thousands of veterans and their 29 year fight against Communism gets nil.

[soldatsoucy1]

I noticed that it was also downplayed in the media...both before, during and after.

But, one thing I did notice....and if you werent there you might not understand....and Im not going to take much time to reiterate it if you werent there.....

was a sense of thanks and gratitude on the part of the veterans and the community that our groups (3e BCCP and 5th Special Forces) took the time to show up, establish points of contact before and after the parade at our displays, interacted with them, thanked them, and appreciated them. And that was worth the entire weekend for me. That feeling that they appreciated the fact that someone was remembering...someone from outside their community.

Truly the impact of the First Indochina War and the US Vietnam War left impressions on people that will never leave. One of the most impressionable moments for me of the entire weekend was one Vietnamese veteran who approached me and began to deliver an impassioned explanation of what he went through as a prisoner and the reeducation centers. All that I could do was listen, look into his eyes, and say thank you, shake his hand. I could not say I understood because Ive never had that experience. After about 15 minutes of discussion he turned away and left. His wife then looked up at me and uttered a quiet thank you, smiled and left.

In that entire 15 minutes I probably only said 10 words...but I listened. And I acknowledged his story. His wife thanked me. He then came back and thanked me. He needed someone to listen. The community needed someone to listen...and still does.

That is why we were there....that is why I was there....and that is the kind of experience that I will remember for a long time.

And I think that is why we had the most massive thank yous and most wonderful reception before, during, and after the parade that I have ever experienced. It all meant very much to me. But perhaps the most profound aspect of the weekend were the thank yous from people of ALL age groups. That is why I will do this again and continue to do this whenever I can.