More than 50 years after the war ended, Vietnam War veterans in Oakfield, at long last, have an appropriate memorial in Triangle Park.
A new granite bench in the park was dedicated on Monday during the final day of the Oakfield Labor Daze Music and Food Festival.
About 18 months ago, an Oakfield resident, George Norway, sat in Triangle Park in his electric wheelchair with a sign on the back.
It read, "Shame on Oakfield."
When people inquired, he disclosed he was upset with the fact that in the park there were memorials to veterans of the world wars and Korea but nothing honoring the sacrifices of Vietnam War veterans.
Norway was not himself a veteran but he had seen friends and family go off to war and was not happy that they were forgotten.
Jill Klotzback, Robyn Gage and Laurie Nanni, along with members of the Oakfield Historical Society, got together and began to plan an appropriate memorial.
After the company they were working with to create the memorial more than doubled the price of the monument, Justin Calarco Smith of H.E. Turner spoke with the company's distributor and he was able to get the bench for less than the original quote.
Before the bench was unveiled, Assemblyman Steve Hawley spoke about how Vietnam veterans were forgotten, ignored, even shunned after the war. He recalled that for the first five years of his annual trip to Washington D.C., the Patriot Trip, there were never Vietnam War veterans who took the trip. Over the past few years, their numbers have been increasing. When the tour stops at the Vietnam War Memorial, Hawley speaks with those veterans and thanks them for their service and apologizes on behalf of the nation for how they were treated upon their return. "Thank you for your service and welcome home," he says.
The brother and sister-in-law of George Norway then placed a bouquet of roses on the bench to dedicate it.
Photo by Howard Owens
