EMAIL ARTICLE    LINK TO ARTICLE    PRINT ARTICLE

Article Last Updated: Wednesday, January 22, 2003 - 11:31:16 PM MST

OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION 2/6/2003 - Revealing Saddam's web of lies - Cooking up Disaster Relief - Latino birthrate in California tops 50 percent for first time in history - Volunteer helps police solve crimes - El Rancho High wins accreditation battle - Whittier resident 'Millie' Riley dies - Bomb threat at middle school called 'practical joke' - 2 incumbents have edge in fund-raisin - Reading the needs of the blind - Around Whittier - Two suspects caught after lengthy chase Ramos seeks recognition for vets By Ben Baeder , Staff Writer WHITTIER -- Whittier last month became the first city in the nation to proclaim Jan. 27 "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.' On Tuesday, the council presented the official proclamation to Whittier resident and Vietnam veteran Jose Ramos. Ramos, a medic in Vietnam, who suffered bouts with drug and alcohol abuse upon his return to the United States, said he was grateful. "I want to thank you all for taking me seriously. I'm grateful to see that remembering something in the past can change something about the future,' he said. Similar proclamations naming Jan. 27 as "Welcome Home' day are starting to pile up, with Santa Fe Springs, Montebello, Pico Rivera and other cities joining in. Ramos plans to ride his bike, along with one or two other veterans, from Whittier to Washington, D.C., collecting proclamations from cities along the way. He hopes to convince federal officials to make Jan. 27 the anniversary of the official end of the Vietnam conflict in 1973 a federal day of remembrance. The day would mean a lot to Vietnam veterans, he said. Those who fought in Vietnam, Ramos said, were asked to live in squalid conditions, witness bloody deaths and kill other humans only to come home to insults from their own countrymen. "We went from one bad situation to another,' he said. Whittier Mayor Dave Butler said he thinks Ramos is on to a great idea. "Many men and women came back (from Vietnam) so psychologically scarred that its almost impossible for them to ever be healed,' he said. "They watched their friends get blown apart.' Ramos hopes the event will cause veterans to get psychological help to deal with the stress they suffered in Vietnam. He also hopes school children will learn more about the war. Ben Baeder can be reached at (562) 698-0955, Ext. 3024, or by e-mail at ben.baeder@sgvn.com .

RETURN TO TOP