Vietnam veterans from Wairarapa came home "for the first time" yesterday.
Masterton veteran Tweet Bird said their return is paved by a formal government apology in Parliament yesterday that comes decades after they were forced to sneak back from a war seen as dirty.
"For some of our boys they're coming home
for the first time," he said soon after attending the Tribute 08 ceremony, which opens a process funded and backed by the Government as part of a settlement of long-standing grievances among Vietnam veterans.
Mr Bird, who served with Victor 5 Company in Vietnam, said the formal apology was hard-won, long overdue, and "absolutely deserved" by those surviving servicemen who upon their return were shunned by the government of the day, their military hierarchy, and opponents of the war. "There was never any respect when we came back. We were treated like shit. Vietnam was seen as a non-existent dirty war and we were treated as non-existent dirty soldiers."
Mr Bird said as part of Tribute 08 up to 10 Vietnam veterans and family members from Wairarapa, including himself and his wife, would join an expected 2500 fellow veterans from across New Zealand for a parade from Civic Square to Parliament on Saturday, conducted to the beat of four military bands.
Also part of Tribute 08 is a medical and compensation package "that is still open to negotiation" that will address those servicemen, and their families, affected by chemicals used in the conflict including dioxin-based Agent Orange defoliant.
About 20 per cent of the 3500 veterans who served in Vietnam between 1964 and 1972 have died, some prematurely of cancer and other conditions related to their service. Of the 3890 New Zealand soldiers in South Vietnam, 37 were killed in action and 187 were wounded.
Veterans internationally have blamed Agent Orange for health problems such as diabetes and prostate cancer in former soldiers, and birth defects in their children. After years of successive governments denying soldiers were affected by Agent Orange, a parliamentary health select committee inquiry concluded in October 2004 it was "beyond doubt" personnel were exposed to toxic herbicides.
Mr Bird said Tribute 08 counters "lies told for years" about exposure of New Zealand troops to defoliants manufactured in New Zealand.
"It's about the truth and what was done over there that made some of us sick or die. "And it's for our kids and our grandkids, as much as for those of us who haven't gone bush or committed suicide."
Vietnam veterans from Wairarapa came home "for the first time" yesterday.
Masterton veteran Tweet Bird said their return is paved by a formal government apology in Parliament yesterday that comes decades after they were forced to sneak back from a war seen as dirty.
"For some of our boys they're coming home
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