For Long Island's Vietnam veterans, a 'thank you' 50 years later 

As John Green bowed his head to receive a medal for his service during the Vietnam War, he remembered the dense jungle and a bout with malaria that confined him to a Cam Ranh Bay hospital for five weeks.

“I was fortunate enough to come back,” the Army veteran from Mastic Beach said. But back home, he said, “There were problems. You couldn’t get into bars. … It was the craziest thing.”

Green, 77, was one of 30 Vietnam veterans honored with a medal and lapel pin by the Long Island Air Force Association at the Museum of American Armor in Old Bethpage Saturday. But perhaps the most important token from the ceremony was a two-word phrase, long overdue: Welcome home.

“It’s a big deal,” said association president Fred Di Fabio, 83, of Medford, who also served in Vietnam. “When they came home, nobody was honored. This is our chance to honor them and say thank you for your service.”

Saturday marked the organization’s 45th ceremony. More than 1,500 Long Island veterans have received medals since the program began nine years ago, Di Fabio said.

Seated together in rows, veterans with glistening eyes nodded along, recalling their homecomings. Many were met with vitriol as the war became politically unpopular.

“We as a nation could not separate the war from the warrior,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Edward Chrystal, who placed the medals around each of their necks.

Chrystal recalled returning from service tours in the Army. “The first person standing in line to welcome us home was the Vietnam veteran, because they knew what it was like to be forgotten,” he said.

Saturday’s event also honored 60,000 Australians who served alongside U.S. troops in Vietnam. Amy Beck, representing the Australian Embassy, thanked the veterans for their camaraderie and courage and highlighted “the unbreakable bond” between the nations.

American troops fought for nearly a decade to halt communism in Southeast Asia and withdrew troops in 1973. The conflict claimed 58,220 American lives, according to the National Archives.

Navy veteran James Crawford, of Queens, proudly displayed the blue medal around his neck. The 79-year-old was detached to the Marines in Da Nang and traveled north to the demilitarized zone. “That’s when all hell broke loose, and I just thank God that I made it back,” he said.

Saturday’s ceremony was especially moving for Crawford as his grandson Anthony, 13, a youth cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, volunteered to snap photos of proud families.

“I knew they were treated badly — but not that bad,” Anthony Crawford said, adding that his grandfather’s service record inspires him.

For the soft-spoken Nicholas Acosta, of New Hyde Park, the event was a way to open up about the war.

“It’s something that wasn’t spoken about,” he said, scrolling through old photos showing his 19-year-old frame riding atop a tank, or smiling between two soldiers next to a decorated makeshift Christmas tree.

“I never saw them again,” Acosta, 76, said.

Their families also were moved by the presentations.

Susan Ambro’s blue eyes welled as she watched Green get his medal.

“I looked at him and just started to cry, because I remember the day he came home,” Ambro, 65, of Wading River said.

At the time, she was a third-grader writing letters to her big brother, with parents worried sick and praying for his safe return.

She was proud to see her brother honored Saturday, adding that it was an “impressive” ceremony. “It gave me chills,” Ambro said.