By Donald Wittkowski
As combat soldiers, Michael Rodgers and his fellow Vietnam veterans were trained for the horrors of war.
However, they were not prepared for what awaited them when they returned back home after serving their tour of duty.
“There were no parades. No bands playing. No crowds welcoming us home,” Rodgers recalled. “Instead, we were treated with disdain.”
Fifty years after he returned from Vietnam, Rodgers finally got his homecoming Thursday. He was among Vietnam veterans nationwide who were honored for their service during a war that claimed more than 58,000 American lives.
In recognition of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, dignitaries and members of the public gathered Thursday at Sea Isle City’s Veterans Memorial Park for a poignant ceremony attended by Rodgers and other local Vietnam veterans, including state Assemblyman R. Bruce Land.
“You have the thanks of a grateful nation and you are heroes in our eyes,” Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio told the veterans in keynote remarks.
Desiderio and other speakers pointed out the stark differences in the way the country treats its veterans as heroes these days, but viewed them as outcasts during the tumultuous Vietnam era.
“These were tough times for all members of the service,” Cape May County American Legion Commander Sherrylee Govoni said of the Vietnam war.
Cape May County Sheriff Bob Nolan, who also spoke, said the haunting memories of the Vietnam war left an “indelible” mark on the American psyche.
When Rodgers spoke, his voice was tinged with emotion while recounting the indignities and hostility he and other veterans encountered when they returned home from Vietnam.
“Insulted. Spit upon. Called ugly names: ‘Baby killers,’” he said. “Folks, we were only 18 and 19 years old. To our parents, we were still babies.”
Rodgers, 73, a Sea Isle resident and retired bank executive, was a combat photographer serving with the Army’s 124th Signal Battalion during the war. He was living in Philadelphia when he returned home from Vietnam in 1968.
Even in his own Philadelphia neighborhood in those days, he was treated by many people as a pariah. The Philadelphia VFW Post refused him membership when he tried to join because it did not want Vietnam veterans at that time, he said.
“Now, 50 years later, the weight of that guilt is being acknowledged,” Rodgers said. “Those of us who did our duty and served in Vietnam are finally being recognized.”
Rodgers concluded his remarks by thanking the mayor and other people of Sea Isle for acknowledging the service and sacrifices of the men and women who were in the military during the Vietnam war.
Land, a Democrat who won re-election to his Assembly seat representing Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic counties last year, served with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971. The 67-year-old Land, who lives in Vineland, expressed hope that the crowds will get bigger and bigger each year National Vietnam War Veterans Day is held.
“Welcome home to all of the Vietnam veterans who are here today,” Land said.
Former President Barack Obama declared March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day in 2012. Then last year, President Donald Trump signed the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 into law, making the date a commemoration of Vietnam veterans every year.
Sea Isle was among the local communities across the country that held ceremonies Thursday to mark the first anniversary of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. During the ceremony, Desiderio asked all of the veterans in the audience to stand and be recognized. The crowd of about 50 people gave them a standing ovation and showered them with applause.
Rodgers and Land were joined by Sea Isle resident Joe Sweeney in placing a wreath at the base of the Memorial Fountain in Veterans Memorial Park.
Sweeney served as a representative of Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, which lost 27 of its graduates during the Vietnam war, the most war deaths suffered by any private or parochial school in the country.
Sweeney, a retired Philadelphia police lieutenant, graduated from Father Judge in 1971. He now lives in Sea Isle full time. He pointed out that Father Judge recognized the importance of honoring the Vietnam veterans much earlier than the rest of the country.
The high school erected a granite monument in 1968 as a tribute to the 27 graduates who were killed. Now, the entire country finally appears to be catching up to Father Judge by treating Vietnam veterans with respect and dignity, Sweeney said.
“I guess we at Father Judge were among the first ones to honor them instead of ridiculing them,” he said.
In Sea Isle, a portion of 46th Street is named in honor of Michael Crescenz, a summer resident who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism during the Vietnam war.
Crescenz, an Army corporal, was killed in 1968 while charging up a hill to attack an enemy stronghold. He was credited with knocking out three enemy machine gun bunkers during a fierce battle, saving the lives of many American soldiers.
A miniature statue of Crescenz is on display in the lobby of Sea Isle’s City Hall. Sea Isle played a major role in raising money for a lifelike bronze statue of Crescenz at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia, Crescenz’s hometown.
