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Event scheduled for March 28

The Manchester V.F.W. Post 10904 will host its annual Vietnam-Era Veterans Honors Dinner Thursday March 28 at the Coffee County Veterans Building, 130 Shelton Road, Manchester.

Post Commander Kimberly King said the dinner is a way to say thank you to the men and women who served their country between November 1955 and May 1973.

“We are the Veterans of Foreign Wars and we were in a war environment, but we also realized that those veterans were treated so badly and as veteran to veteran that just makes you feel so heartbroken about it,” King said. “I’d say eight years ago, when we came up with this idea it was to, in a small way, pay some honors and respect to our brothers and sisters that served in Vietnam from a vet, so veteran to veteran.”

The event is free to veterans and their spouses, and will include a meal followed by a presentation and a showing of the Bob Hope 1967 USO show.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6 p.m.

“We try to do a quality meal like steak, and chicken for people that don’t want that,” King said.

The American Heritage Girls Troop 0314 will be on hand to help serve and bus tables, while the Elk River Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution will also help to serve and will provide all the desserts for the evening.

King said she has also received donations for the event from the UDC Calvin Brewer Chapter 2505 and recently elected property assessor Elissa Fletcher for the event.

Once the majority of guests have finished their meals, the program will begin with Howard Thompson serving as Master of Ceremonies. Lloyd Smith will then perform a selection of patriotic songs before the screening of the Bob Hope USO special.

“The reason we picked that one, it is upbeat, has Raquel Welch in it,” King said. “Hope goes all over Vietnam showing different areas of Vietnam where these people were.”

Vietnam-Era veterans who have yet to receive a pin in recognition of their service will then receive one at that time to officially close out the evening.

King said the event typically welcomes more than 100 veterans each year, and registration is required

“We try to limit it to 100 but we are not going to turn anybody away and that is why we ask people to register so we can kind of keep track of how many we have,” she said.

For more information or to register for the 7th annual Vietnam-era Veterans Honors Dinner, contact Kimberly King at 251-554-8836 or flygal46@yahoo.com.