Roy A. Aubain, Louis E. Berry, Clarence V. Beverhoudt, David L. Brodeur, James A. Francis, Kendall E. George, Cutburt Hurtault, Gabriel A. Jeffries Jr., Andrew A. Lang, Liston R. Leonard, Albert J. McAuliffe, Francois A. Peterson, Winston G. Raymo, Richard S. Schott, Llewellyn A. Smith, and John A. Wheatley.
Sixteen men from across the Virgin Islands died in the War in Vietnam. They, along with men and women from all of the nation’s wars, were honored Sunday with a Veterans Day parade and ceremony on St. John.
“Nov. 11 is a bittersweet day for me,” Vietnam veteran and keynote speaker Elmo Rabsatt said as several dozen people gathered in Cruz Bay Park for the ceremony.
may 12 2012 through November 11, 2025
As the nation commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War – an observance by presidential proclamation, extending from May 12, 2012 through November 11, 2025 – Rabsatt and others spoke about how unwelcoming many people were to veterans returning home after their tour of duty in Vietnam.
While Vietnam veterans are now accorded respect and honor, Rabsatt said it came 50 years too late.
“We’re sorry we did not give you good rewards when you came home many years ago,” Harry Daniel, who serves as the director of the territory’s Veterans Affairs office, said.
Earlier in the program, Rabsatt led the Empty Chair ceremony to remember those held prisoner of war and missing in action. As he draped the black POW/MIA flag over the chair, Daniel said no effort should be spared to secure the release of prisoners of war and to seek a full accounting of those missing in action.
Dr. Lee Carl Whitaker, who was recently named as the St. Thomas VA Clinic director, said those who died in the nation’s wars “paid the steep price of freedom with the coin of sacrifice.”
In her remarks, St. John Administrator Leona Smith said thousands of Virgin Islands residents served in the military during times of peace and times of strife.
“They bear a badge of courage,” she said.
Delegate Donna M. Christensen said veterans did not hesitate one moment or one day to serve.
“And today members of the National Guard are on their way to Afghanistan,” Christensen said.
The parade, organized by the Veterans Affairs office, included a contingent from the V.I. National Guard, the Guard’s 73rd Army Band, a group from Ivanna Eudora Kean High School Junior ROTC, the Amazing Youth Drum Corps, and American Legion members from both St. Thomas and St. John.
“We’re here to honor all veterans,” Doug Benton, a member of American Legion Viggo E. Sewer Post 131 on St. John.
As the marchers made their way from Mongoose Junction shopping center to Cruz Bay Park, small knots of people gathered here and there along the route to watch. Some saluted as the flags went by.
“We attend parades at home so why not have a look here,” visitor Mary Norman of Havertown, Penn., said as she snapped photos of the groups lining up for the parade.