Heinz History Center celebrates Vietnam veterans
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Friday is not just Good Friday. It's also a day for the United States to recognize its Vietnam veterans.
The Heinz History Center hosted a special celebration to honor those who served. More than 500 people came out on Friday, with 300 of them being veterans.
The theme of the night was making up for lost time, giving recognition to those who served and were not thanked enough for their service.
"This is our very small late gesture, a way to say thank you and welcome home 50 years later," said Todd Depastino, director of the Veterans Breakfast Club.
"We who have served understand that some things get lost in the shuffle, but this is an attempt to undo the shuffle," veteran Michael McCarthy said.
Depastino says Vietnam veterans didn't get a warm welcome when they came back home from war.
"The special trauma that the Vietnam veterans experienced was their homecoming, which was horrible. They were greeted with neglect and in some cases abuse," Depastino said.
McCarthy, a judge in Allegheny County, served two years in the war.
"The climate in 1970, 1971 when I came home was such that the war was a terrible thing," he said. "We had nothing to do with it. We were deployed, we had to do what we had to do and that was way above our pay grade. But we served our country."
And veterans got a chance to tell their own stories.
"God is good, man," veteran Harry Van Riper said. "I knew God before I went there. I never worried about dying once the whole time I was there. I was only there four months, eight days when I got hit."
Army combat medic Ted Debiak received a Purple Heart after 50 years for his service and sacrifice in the war. He said better late than never.
"It feels like justification, finally that I am getting a Purple Heart," he said.
