Fort Campbell, KY. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) Hangar 3 at Campbell Army Airfield was filled with family, friends, and hundreds of fellow soldiers Thursday as more than 80 Vietnam Veterans walked into the hangar to the sound of cheers, applause and shouts of welcome home. It was part of the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Hamburger Hill celebration.
The honorary Colonel of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment ‘Iron Rakkasans’, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault, Lieutenant General Retired, Francis Wiercinski, talked about what the ceremony meant to him and the heroic soldiers. “I think as Rakkasans and as Screaming Eagles, I’ve always known us to welcome home our combat warriors.
For us not to have done that to our Korean War veterans, our Vietnam War veterans and especially these Hamburger Hill veterans on this 50th anniversary, they never had this. For them I think it’s closure, I hope it’s closure. For us also it’s like we welcomed home everybody and I hope now that they come to peace and the realization that America loves them and they did their job, they did their duty at a very difficult time,” said Wiercinski.
The Battle of Hamburger Hill, Hill 937, Dong Ap Bia, took place between May 10 and May 20 1969 during Operation Apache Snow and the Iron Rakkasans became the most highly decorated airborne battalion of the Vietnam War.