Patroits Point to honor Vietnam War veterans, honor Lucy Caldwell’s memory

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - The Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum is offering free admission for Vietnam War veterans and their immediate families Wednesday as part of Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Museum staff and volunteers will pin each veteran with a Department of Defense Vietnam War Veteran lapel pin. Volunteers who served during the war will conduct tours and the public will have an opportunity to write letters to the veterans to thank them for their service.

Click here for more information about Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum and its Vietnam War Veterans Day events.

At 11 a.m., Patriots Point will host a memorial ceremony inside the Vietnam Experience Exhibit to honor the 896 South Carolinians lost during the Vietnam War.

Col. Myron Harrington, USMC (Ret.) will be the featured speaker. Harrington served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. for 30 years. He received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism on Feb. 23, 1968, while serving as commanding officer for Delta Company, First Battalion, Fifth Marines during the Battle of Hué, as part of the Tet Offensive in the Republic of Vietnam.

The museum will also host representatives from Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center who can answer questions about various programs offered to veterans and their families.

Then at 7 p.m., Patriots Point will host a special program to pay tribute to Lucy Caldwell. Caldwell was a 56-year-old widow when, in March 1966, she left her home in New Jersey bound for Saigon. She knew no one in Asia but felt disturbed by images she saw of war protests, draft card bonfires and the desecration of the American flag she saw on television.

She ultimately would volunteer with the United Service Organization to support service members in the Vietnam War. Over the next 34 months, she solicited care packages, hosted dinners, talked with critically wounded men, read to them and wrote letters home to their families.

Caldwell died on Feb. 28, 1979.

The National Vietnam War Veterans Day program will feature the first two episodes of the PBS documentary “Lucy Caldwell” and then a fireside chat with as many of “Lucy’s Boys” as can be found.

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