Bay Area Vietnam War veterans get long overdue moment with arrival of USNS Harvey Milk to San Francisco
A commemoration of Vietnam War veterans in San Francisco was being held Friday with the arrival of the USNS Harvey Milk to the city, a historic moment in more ways than one.
As the saying goes, once a Marine, always a Marine, and no one embodies that more than 82-year-old Bill Peacock
Peacock is one of a few good men who served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 and one of the lucky ones who made it home.
"My basic school class 567, had one of the highest casualty rates of lieutenants in the entire war," he said.
But unlike other wars, Vietnam vets didn't return home to ticker tape parades or fanfare. It took until 1982 for a national memorial to be commissioned and another 35 years for the government to officially declare March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day.
This is why Peacock was recently adorning a blazer with his old medals and giving his shoes that famous Marine spit shine, as he prepared to attend his first-ever major commemoration at the US Naval Ship Harvey Milk, which docked in San Francisco Thursday as its first port of call on its maiden voyage.
The fabric of his blazer has softened over the years, but the memories remain sharp. As he ran his fingers over the pinned metals each one tells a story, a chapter etched in courage and sacrifice.
"They all gotta be straight," he said, "absolutely squared away."
Peacock welcomes the recognition of Vietnam vets from both the government and from the public at large, after all these years.
"It's really great that the Defense Department is honoring its service men and women like this and I'm very proud to be going there," he said.
And although he hears it all the time, he'd rather people not thank him for his service.
"I would much prefer for them to say, thank you for our freedom because that's what we were there for," he said. "We weren't there to wash their windows or mow their lawns military. Combat is the real thing."