The USS Midway welcomes thousands on board Sunday to remember the Fall of Saigon.
Vietnamese and Americans climbed on board to commemorate the end of the Vietnam War 40 years ago.
Along the vessel’s deck, more than 58,000 yellow ribbons swayed in the wind, a way to remember those that had fallen.
The day the war ended was also the day the USS Midway rescued more than 3,000 Vietnamese refugees during Operation Frequent Wind.
Veteran Rob Boyd remembered unloading refugees from helicopters like the one on the vessel.
“The gratitude I feel most from events like this is how much the Vietnamese people appreciate the actions that we took to get them to safety,” Boyd said.
Veteran Greg Miller said Sunday that being on the vessel and remembering the conflict makes him emotional.
Local
“Getting out and facing what happened…it helps,” Miller said.
After all these years, Miller found the name of one of his fallen comrades among the more than 58,000 on the wall that heals.
“The last time I saw him was October 20, 1969, in an ambush in the jungle…in Vietnam,” Miller said.
The ceremony Sunday remembered those that fought in the conflict and survived and those that fought and never made it home.
