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State Rep. Hoan Huynh, D-Chicago, said the fall of Saigon on
April 30, 1975, was a day of heartbreak and upheaval for his
family and many others.
“For the South Vietnamese people, it meant the end of a dream
for freedom in their native land. For Americans and South
Vietnamese veterans, it meant the conclusion of a conflict that
has taken so many lives and left so many wounds. And yet, from
that sorrow, a powerful story of resilience and hope began,”
Huynh said.
State Sen. Mark Walker, D-Arlington Heights, is a Vietnam War
veteran. Walker said his mother did not understand why he left
college and volunteered to fight.
“When I came home from Vietnam, she asked me, ‘Why did you do
that?’ And I said, it just popped into my brain and out of my
mouth, ‘I fought for the Bill of Rights,’” Walker recalled.
State Rep. Dan Swanson, R-Alpha, said he was welcomed home at
the Quad City airport after serving in Iraq from 2007 to 2008.
“But when our Vietnam veterans came home, they had no such
greeting. They were spit on, called baby killers and were
treated horribly, as if they were the enemy,” Swanson said.
State Rep. Wayne Rosenthal, R-Morrisonville, served in the
Illinois Air National Guard from 1971 to 2001. He said he was in
training in the early 1970s and said the crews he flew with were
Vietnam flyers and aviators.
“That’s who I learned to fly from and fly with,” Rosenthal said.
Huynh closed his remarks an an optimistic note.
“Let us never forget that even from the most painful chapters of
history, a new story can arise: one of hope, of healing and of
enduring strength,” Huynh said.
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