Veterans salute during a State House ceremony Monday. Photo by Steve Klamkin, WPRO News.
WPRO Newsroom and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – Dozens of veterans of the Vietnam War have gathered at the Rhode Island Statehouse for an event honoring their service.
Speakers at Monday's Statehouse event included Gov. Lincoln Chafee, who said it was important to thank those who served in the war and remember their sacrifice.
Special honors were paid to one military unit – the 107th Signal Company of the Rhode Island National Guard. Three members of the unit were killed during the war, and another eight members received the Bronze Star.
State Rep. Raymond Gallison, the master of ceremonies at Monday's event, says that too often service members returning home from the Vietnam War weren't given the respect they earned. Gallison leads the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Fifty-eight thousand American service members died during the Vietnam War.
