Editor’s note: This article was changed to correct the number of Valdosta men who died in the Vietnam War.
VALDOSTA — Twenty-one Valdosta men died in the Vietnam War. On Monday, Memorial Day, the members of AMVETS Post 607 honored them in particular among the fallen servicemen for whom the day is commemorated.
Sgt. Calvin Graham intoned each man’s name during a Memorial Day ceremony at the post hall on Hill Avenue.
Graham, himself a Purple Heart recipient, said he was tasked with bringing one of the deceased servicemen, Rufus Sirmans, back to Valdosta during his second tour — “not knowing I was bringing my classmate back.”
When the plane landed in Atlanta, he said the pilot asked over the intercom that Graham be allowed to disembark first because he was bringing a deceased serviceman home. He said he was called many names as he walked through the plane to the exit, including “baby killer.”
“Valdosta and the state of Georgia did not appreciate people coming back from Vietnam,” he said.
Once he was out of the service, Graham said, he applied for a job, along with two people who had just gotten out of jail. The interviewer asked where he was coming from, and he said Vietnam. The other two men were hired and he wasn’t.
Monday’s ceremony also included a video recitation of “In Flanders Fields,” a World War I poem that inspired the use of red poppies as symbols for deceased servicemen; a presentation of colors by the Valdosta High School Junior ROTC; and a rousing speech by City Manager Richard Hardy, a former chief master sergeant in the Air Force.
“What do we owe these brave few?” Hardy asked. He said we are to use the gift of freedom they gave us to build a better world, to not only do good but to be good.
“We owe them more than we can repay,” he said, “but we must try.”
Sgt. Natalie Smith read Gov. Brian Kemp’s Memorial Day proclamation, and Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson spoke. Candles were lit representing each of the six branches of service — Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Space Force. A video celebrated members of the AMVETS post, many of whom had passed away.
J.D. Rice, chaplain of the post, led a POW/MIA ceremony, marked by a solemn ringing of a bell.
“They are unable to be with us today, so we remember them,” Rice said.
The commemoration ended with Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA,” which many in attendance sang along with, and a benediction asking God’s blessing on servicemen still in harm’s way around the world.