HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — March 29, National Vietnam War Veterans Day, marks 50 years since the U.S. pulled troops out of Vietnam.
This weekend Vietnam Veterans will gather at the Veterans Memorial park in Tampa for the 50-year commemoration.
We spoke to two local veterans who tell us after all these years; it's still hard to talk about their time in Vietnam.
Jim Stacy is a Vietnam Veteran.
“Some guys didn’t come home and those are the guys I miss,” he said.
Stacy went to fight in the war shortly after he graduated high school. Stacy got to come home after one year, but he said the hardest part is knowing what he left behind.
“I made it back and they didn’t. When you leave somebody behind, yes, it's been hard for me,” Stacy said.
He fought alongside many men who died during the war. He said those people are family.
“In real life, I have four brothers. I'm the fifth boy in the family. I was the middle one, but these guys I've served with are my real brothers,” Stacy said.
The title Vietnam Veteran connects him to people he has never met. People like Robert Pennell, another local Vietnam Veteran.
Pennells time in Vietnam came to a harsh close when he was shot in the leg. He spent 127 stays in the military hospital recovering before he got to go home. All these years later, he keeps a reminder in his pocket.
“So this beret has a bullet hole and it was in my pocket when I was shot and my femur was shattered,” Pennell said.
He said it's a reminder of how fortunate he is. Both men will be at the commemoration Saturday. It starts at 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Park.
