Raymond Gimmler, chairman of the East Rockaway-based organization We Supported Our Men in Vietnam, recently visited the Andersonville National Historic Site and its Prisoners of War Museum in Georgia, where he donated two half-hour videotapes of the historic Support Our Men in Vietnam parade. Held on May 13, 1967, over 250,000 people marched down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue as millions on the sidelines cheered the historic demonstration.
Also donated was a documentary, At Home with Honor, which shows some of the 22 parades, demonstrations, and homecomings that Vietnam servicemen, servicewomen and former P.O.W.'s received during and after the Vietnam War. Included is coverage of the Home with Honor parade held March 31, 1973, when 150,000 people marched behind 1,000 returning troops from Times Square to Central Park.
The videotapes contain footage gathered from film and television sources. They were viewed and accepted for the museum by historian Alan Marsh and director E. Amanda Rhodes, and will be shown continuously at scheduled times, providing an educational source for Vietnam veterans, community groups and the general public.
Much of this footage has not been seen before, said Rhodes. Despite popular belief, these men did receive a warm welcome upon returning home.
Bumper stickers, buttons, signs, resolutions, photos and other supplementary material from the parades and demonstrations were also donated John M. Connolly, Jr. of Valley Stream, chairman of the Civilized Treatment of Our P.O.W.'s Committee of Long Island.
These accomplishments are of tremendous news for getting our message across to the Vietnam vets in our country, said Gimmler. In 1994 all of our records, photos, film, news releases and letters were donated and held in the Hoover Institution archives at Stanford University, California, so that history will record these events.
"At Home with Honor
