ASHLAND — The annual Ashland-area Vietnam-Era Veterans Recognition Dinner is in its seventh year and tickets are about to go on sale.
Tickets are available for purchase and pick up starting Sunday at DeSanto & Kellogg’s Ashland office, 432 Center St., for $15.
Seating for the event is limited, one of the event organizers, Ann Schar said, with up to 350 seats available.
The dinner, organized by the Ashland County Veterans Appreciation Events Committee, will be March 28 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Ashland Eagles Aerie 2178, 400 Eastlake Drive.
“I’m just one of those crazy volunteers who has spare time on her hands and a husband who fought in Vietnam,” Schar said.
The event includes a social hour, a performance by the Ashland Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1067 Color Guard, introduction of special guests, prayer, dinner and a speech from the keynote speaker.
Local attorney and county parks commissioner Robert DeSanto will be the master of ceremony for the event.
Keynote Speaker Greg Gorrell
This year’s keynote speaker is Greg Gorrell— an Ashland native and Vietnam War combat veteran in the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Division.
Gorrell was selected to speak after he published a book about his experiences fighting in the Vietnam War as a 21-year-old.
Gorrell wrote the 130-page book, titled “Vietnam Survival: There and Home,” so other Vietnam veterans may feel comfortable to share their stories too and so family members can understand what he went through.
“Vietnam veterans are dying at the rate of over 400 per day. This pace will only accelerate. It is the hope that other Vietnam veterans will share their story to those they love – while they still can. Otherwise, their history and a portion of our country’s history will be lost forever,” Gorrell wrote in a press release.
Schar helped Gorrell proofread and finalize the book’s edits.
“I read the prologue and thought, ‘This is going to be good,'” Schar said.
“It took him six months to write it, there were times we would sit at the computer and he was very quiet, processing the memories of everything he went through,” Schar said.
Reading the book helped Schar understand why her husband rarely talks about his experiences fighting in Vietnam in the 101st Airborne Division.
She said the Gorrell has received letters from children and grandchildren of Vietnam veterans thanking him for helping them understand their family members better. And his local book-signing tour encouraged other veterans to share their stories.
The Ashland County Veterans Appreciation Committee also organizes the annual Veterans Appreciation Day event at Freer Field Aug. 8.