“On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. ground troops departed the Republic of Vietnam, however the war wasn’t declared over until 1975, with the fall of Saigon,” Dickinson County Veteran Service Office Director Denise Formolo said Friday.

To coincide with the anniversary, the DCVSO hosted a social Friday to honor local Vietnam veterans.

Formolo, along with other board members and Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center Director John Shealey and Public Affairs Officer Tim Ellison, acknowledged each in attendance with a “welcome home” and “thank you.”

“We wanted to let them know that their sacrifices mattered and service made a difference,” she explained.

DICKINSON COUNTY VETERAN Service Office Director Denise Formolo pins Blue Water Navy Vietnam veteran Dave Tuovila’s location where he served on a map of Vietnam. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

The Veteran Service Office was also able to award several veterans with their Vietnam Memorial Pins.

“Many others have already received one through the year,” Formolo said.

Vietnam veterans once met with scorn and hatred can now stand proud of their service with their stories heard and understood, Formolo said.

Mary Stolze, a Vietnam nurse, explained she was warned about demonstrators when she was returning to the U.S. “Myself and another nurse were fortunate, because we were able to throw our fatigues away and put civilian clothes to go home, but the young soldiers — all they had wasthe shirts on their back,” Stolze said. “People were yelling and throwing stuff. I could never understand how they blamed those young kids. It was totally wrong thinking.”

More than 9 million veterans served during the Vietnam War, with 351,000 being awarded the Purple Heart and 58,281 names engraved in black granite known as the Vietnam Wall Memorial in Washington D.C.

DICKINSON COUNTY VETERAN Service Office Director Denise Formolo is shown with George and Mary Stolze, both Vietnam veterans. Mary Stolze is also a member of the DCVSO Board. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

They fought during the Tet Offensive, The Easter Offensive, Operation Linebacker I and II, Operation Pocket Money, the War of the Flags and many other battles in the jungles and rice paddies of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, South China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.

Veterans were also asked Friday to place a push pin on the map of Vietnam, indicating where they were served.

“It is interesting to see all the different places just from those who attended today,” Formolo said.

Formolo also acknowledged the families of those 1,500 service members who remain missing. “Know that our nation’s efforts to bring them home will never stop until each one is returned and/or accounted for,” she added.

Stolze noted that more veterans have died by suicide than had been killed in combat. “It’s so tragic that they had to suffer and go through what they did,” she said.

A fellow veteran in attendance also stated that only 3 of 10 Vietnam veterans are still alive today.

Formolo said several hundred Vietnam veterans live in the area.

“These types of events are very important. It wasn’t until not long ago when Vietnam veterans started to receive the recognition, acceptance and thanks they deserved,” said Stolze, who is a member of the DCSO board. “It’s wonderful.”

The Veterans Service Office thanked the Uren-Cooper-Johnson American Legion Post 50 of Iron Mountain and MarketPlace Foods for donating cookies and coffee for the veterans.