On Sunday, May 25, Thuy Smith International Outreach, Inc., hosted the third annual Vietnam Veterans Appreciation Dinner at the Eau Claire VFW. Open to Vietnam veterans from Wisconsin and Minnesota who served in Laos, Cambodia, or off a naval ship directly linked to Vietnam, the dinner was attended by roughly 80 veterans, as well as State Representative Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire), guest speakers and Vietnam veterans Larry Williams and Dan Banks, and representatives from the Vietnamese community. It was an opportunity for Vietnam veterans from Altoona as well as surrounding communities to foster camaraderie and community among fellow veterans who were formerly strangers; it was also a time for healing and reconnecting.

   According to Altoona resident Larry Podwys, who attended Sunday’s dinner, it is important for Altoona residents “to remember the veterans of a war who had no ‘welcome home.’”
   “The dinner is a great time for veterans to connect with others who served and shared similar experiences because they have a connection no one else has,” he explained.
   The Thuy Smith International Outreach is a non-profit organization that began in 1999 by Thuy Smith, a Vietnam native who was brought to the United States in 1973 by her father, an American soldier in the Vietnam War who married her mother during his deployment. Her experience as a Vietnamese woman growing up in an American community after the end of the war had its share of negatives and Smith felt inspired to “turn the negatives into positives.” She found that others needed healing, including Vietnam veterans. According to Thuy, the organization’s present goal is “to restore relations” between the Vietnamese community and Vietnam veterans. Efforts include sending phone cards to overseas troops, sending medical equipment to Vietnam, and bringing Vietnam veterans back to Vietnam to revisit the now-peaceful country. Banks and Williams, each from Duluth, Minn., have both had opportunities to revisit Vietnam with Smith.
   During the dinner, Smith shared her story of coming to the United States and growing up Vietnamese with negative post-war sentiments. Smith then invited anyone else who would like to tell their story; six veterans responded and voiced their appreciation for the opportunity.
   Dinner attendees were also introduced to the possibility of another Memorial Day on the calendar – this one in the form of a bill Smith is working on passing through Wisconsin legislature. Similar to a bill that passed in Minnesota in March, this piece of legislation would formally designate March 29, the day the last active combat troops were withdrawn from South Vietnam, as Vietnam Veterans’ Day.
   According to Thuy, it is important for veterans to appreciate the opportunity for such unique cultural interaction.
   “(They) can connect both with each other as well as the Vietnamese community,” she said.