Vietnam Veteran Remembrance Ceremony Set for April 30

Grand Island, Neb. — The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975 when North Vietnamese Army tanks rolled through the gate of the Presidential Palace in Saigon in what has since been coined the “Fall of Saigon.”

Exactly 50 years later, Hall County and Grand Island dignitaries want to pay tribute to not only those who served in the war, but most importantly those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30, a special Vietnam Veteran Remembrance Ceremony will be held outside the Hall County Courthouse on Locust Street.

Spectators who attend to pay tribute will hear from Grand Island Mayor Roger Steele, Hall County Hero Flight Board Member Dan Naranjo, Hall County Warriors Committee Member John Larson as well as Vietnam Veteran Jim Seims.

Additionally, the Grand Island community will be participating in various ways. At 11 a.m., churches will all be ringing their bells in unison to remember the fallen and pay tribute to our surviving veterans. Then at 12 p.m., seven Nebraska Army National Guard soldiers will be carrying flags from Veterans Club Park to the Hall County Courthouse to remember the seven local Hall County veterans who were killed in action during the Vietnam War.

Prior to the ceremony, Hall County Commissioner Gary Quandt will ascend the Hall County Courthouse to stand on the top balcony of the building to honor the veterans. Quandt will head to the top of the courthouse at 12 p.m. on April 28 and remain there until the end of the ceremony on April 30. Quandt’s tribute is also a fundraising effort for the Hall County Warriors Memorial, which is a monument project to honor those who have served from 1975 and beyond.

The ceremony on April 30 will also feature the singing of National Anthem and God Bless America by Hall County Commissioner Pam Lancaster as well as a performance of Taps by the Hall County Veterans Honor Guard. The ceremony will then conclude with a 21-gun salute

See Video Interviews on the event.
Don Shuda, Hall County Veterans Services Officer
Steve & Pam Lancaster
John Larson