DeKALB, Texas-Some DeKalb-area Vietnam veterans learned Saturday that time's passing doesn't necessarily mean a passage from memory.
Even with the Vietnam War a half-century gone, Eddie L. Bell, state president for the Department of Texas Korean War Veterans Association, presented nine Vietnam War veterans with Vietnam War Commendation Awards in appreciation for their service.
Award recipients included DeKalb Mayor Dennis James Wandrey, Danny Herman House, Coyell Burk Jr., Joe Lewis Cummings Jr., Edward Twant Wilson, Eddie James Easter, Robert Lamar Bates and Theodore Baker Shavers and his wife, Carmen Salina Shavers. All received their pins and certificates during a ceremony at the new Veterans Triangle Park in downtown DeKalb.
The only woman in the group, Carmen Shavers was one of the last veterans to serve in the Women's Army Corps, from 1966 to 1968. The WACs, organized in 1943, was incorporated into the regular Army in 1973.
"I got stationed at Fort Sill, Okla., as a private first class,"she said. "I was assigned there as a clerk-typist during that time of the Vietnam War. I would be the one who would cut the commanders' orders that would send our troops to Vietnam. I also handled some classified documents. My brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Phillip Shavers, was killed during the Tet Offensive in 1968."
After 50 years, Shavers said she is glad to see this kind of recognition for Vietnam veterans.
"I think this is a ceremony that is long overdue when you consider the way Vietnam veterans were treated when they got back home,"she said.
Bell said he is glad to pay tribute to Vietnam War veterans.
"We have the honor to pay respect to our fellow brothers and sisters today," he said," I think it's time to pay honor and respect to those (who) didn't get that honor and respect when they went back home. I can't stress enough the thanks we have for your for the honor you brought to our country by serving."