JACKSONVILLE — John Chandler is on a mission – one that was started by a U.S. senator from North Carolina, but that he knows has to be completed.

Chandler, a Vietnam veteran, wants to see his brothers in arms get the welcome home they deserve – one they never got when they actually returned to the U.S. from that war.

“When I heard about this, I started thinking about the men we lost in Cherokee County, and I thought this would be something Jacksonville might want to do,” Chandler said.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.) introduced a resolution to the senate a resolution designating March 30 as Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day, and whether it passes the senate or not, Chandler wants to see something done on a local level to recognize those men who went to Vietnam and fought so courageously, but didn’t receive the support of their country as had veterans before them.

“There’s no question that our troops served our country bravely and faithfully during the Vietnam War, and these veterans deserve our recognition and gratitude,” Burr said. “Unfortunately, when these service members returned home, they were caught in the crossfire of public debate about our nation’s involvement in the Vietnam War. As a result, these brave men and women never received the welcome reception and recognition they deserved.”

Chandler said the idea of such a day could be the beginning of thanking Vietnam vets for their service.

“I think it would be nice to offer something like this to them,” he said. “There are a lot of Vietnam Veterans that, it’s too late to say ‘Thank you.’ Really all I want to do is get people made aware.”

U.S. Sen. kay Bailey Hutchison expressed her support for the resolution Friday.

“Since the earliest days of our nation, whenever freedom was threatened, our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines have risen to its defense on battlefields all across the world,” Hutchison said. “We should embrace every opportunity to express our genuine gratitude for their bravery. By designating a ‘Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day’ we could establish one more important way of remembering a courageous generation of heroes who didn’t receive the welcome they deserved when they first returned home from the war.”

Vietnam veterans were caught up in a political turmoil not of their own making, Chandler said, and so even though they were drafted or volunteers, and they served their country courageously, they were often blamed for the situation in Vietnam – even though all they were doing was their jobs as soldiers, and didn’t have anything to do with the “whys” of their presence in that foreign land.

But even if the national Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day does not make it through Congress, Chandler said he would like a local event to be organized to give local Vietnam vets the proper welcome home they did not receive.

“For a lot of these veterans, there was no welcome home,” he said. “Because of the conflict over the political turmoil of the time, they got the brunt of why we were in Vietnam. They were doing their job, though, a mission they were asked to do without question – because their commander in chief said to do this.

“When these soldiers came home, they were tagged with so many labels, like ‘baby killer.’ I really believe that nobody said ‘Welcome home.”

And while most Vietnam vets didn’t get involved in the turmoil that was going on in the U.S. at the time, they all felt it and continue to feel it, Chandler said. Those vets remembered the welcome homes given to veterans in generations before – World War I, World War II and the Korean War – but they were ridiculed for their service.

“It may be too late for a lot of them – an extended hand or a pat on the back and a thank you – 47 years may be too long,” he said. “But the best thing you could do for any vet is tell them ‘welcome home.’”

Any one who would like to volunteer to help organize a Cherokee County Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans event can e-mail Lauren LaFleur at assistanteditor@jacksonvilleprogress.com.