Remembrance Day honors veterans’ service, sacrifice
STATE COLLEGE — Stories of war are often told in dates, battles and outcomes. But inside American Legion Post 245, Vietnam Remembrance Day was less about history and more about memory. The kind of memories that linger, the kind that binds and the kind that never leave.
Veterans gathered not just to remember Vietnam but to remember each other.
For Vincent Tedesco, a retired U.S. Army colonel, the path to Vietnam began long before he ever set foot there.
“I’m a World War II draft dodger’s son,” Tedesco said, before explaining how his father ultimately served after draft rules changed on Oct. 1, 1943, which allowed fathers to be drafted. “When I grew up, all my uncles were soldiers. You had a childhood full of military stories. And as a kid, you always played soldier.”
That upbringing carried him to Penn State in 1960, into ROTC which was mandatory for two years at the university at that time and eventually into a 27-year Army career that included service in Vietnam.
When asked what stayed with him most after the war, Tedesco didn’t hesitate to point to a moment that still lives close to the surface.
“The first big firefight I was in,” he said. “When I got back to my track, they were all wounded. Someone had shot an RPG through the back of the turret… killed the gunner… wounded the other guys.”
He paused, recalling the moment he realized how narrowly he had escaped the same fate.
“Other than the fact I had gone over and done something else, I would have been right next to him,” he said.
But even in the chaos, something else stuck with him: the people.
“For me, there’s so many memories, but one of the things I was fortunate enough to have was a group of guys I served with,” he said. “We became so tight. We’re best of friends.”
That bond, he said, is something civilians often struggle to fully understand.
“There’s no way a civilian could even begin to have that kind of a bond,” he said later during the ceremony. “You’re more than brothers… you experienced hell, survived and brought each other home.”
Throughout the ceremony, veterans shared stories that were at times humorous, at times sobering, but always grounded in a shared understanding of service.
Some spoke about the unpredictability of their paths. Once young men who signed up for one role and found themselves in another, often in a country they barely knew existed.
“Little did I know that there was a country named Vietnam,” David Kline said, reflecting on how quickly life changed after college and ROTC. “Little did I know that somewhere down the line I may find out where that was.”
Others spoke about responsibility, leadership and the weight of decisions made at a young age.
“I never had as much responsibility as I had when I was 23 years old,” said U.S. Air Force veteran Harry Kaufman, who flew C-130 aircraft during the war.
But perhaps the most consistent theme was unity forged not by choice, but by circumstance.
“It didn’t matter where we came from. We were Americans and we came together,” Tedesco said.
That unity extended beyond the battlefield. Veterans described cooks, mechanics and clerks trying to volunteer for dangerous missions simply to help their fellow soldiers.
“Americans were in trouble and they wanted to go help Americans,” Tedesco said.
Yet the return home was not always met with the same sense of unity.
“We were spit at, called names and everything,” Tedesco said of arriving back in the United States. “They told us when we landed on the west coast, ‘Don’t go home in uniform. Change into civilian clothes.’ I didn’t. I didn’t have any civilian clothes but I wasn’t going to.”
For many Vietnam veterans, that reception became part of the story. One that lingered long after the war ended.
That is part of why days like this matter.
“I think it’s pretty wonderful that the nation is finally taking the time to do it,” Tedesco said. “Finally see guys being recognized for what they did.”
The ceremony itself blended solemn reflection with camaraderie. With a prayer, shared laughter, stories passed between generations and a room full of veterans who understood what the others had seen even without saying it.
There were moments of humor but beneath it all was something deeper: a quiet acknowledgment of sacrifice and survival.
For Tedesco, the day carried personal meaning beyond the uniform. It also marked his 62nd wedding anniversary.
“I was lucky I picked the right woman,” he said with a smile.
As time moves forward and as the number of Vietnam veterans grows smaller, the stories remain, carried in rooms like this, shared across tables and passed on to those willing to listen.
American Legion Post 245 will continue that effort with plans to host a Korean War Remembrance Day on Sunday, July 26 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For now, the voices of Vietnam echoed through the post, reminding everyone in attendance that remembrance is not just about the past but about honoring the people who lived it.
