City proclaims March 30 Vietnam Veterans Day
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
During the Monday (March 11) Atmore City Council meeting, Mayor Jim Staff issued and read a proclamation designating Saturday, March 30, as Vietnam Veterans Day in the city.
That date is one day after the official observance of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, which “in perpetuity” will be recognized on March 29 of each year as a means of remembering the sacrifice made by the men and women who died in the Asian war, as well as those who made it home and those who were taken prisoner and never heard from again.
March 29, 1973, is the day United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disestablished, and the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam. Also, on and around this same date, Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners of war.
The city council, sitting two members short due to the absences of District 2’s Jerome Webster and District 3’s Eunice Johnson, gave unanimous approval to issuance of the proclamation, which will be published in its entirety in a later edition of Atmore News.
Three members of Atmore Memorial VFW Auxiliary — Jenny Hutto, Jackey Odom and Arlene Delafosse — attended the meeting to request that the group be allowed to place yellow ribbons on public buildings and trees in public parks.
Hutto said the COVID pandemic forced cancellation of the annual program honoring the Vietnam vets for the past several years, thinning out the number of local veterans who attended. She hopes that will change, although a lot of veterans of the Vietnam War shy away from public gatherings.
“We’re not going to be able to have our ceremony like we used to have,” she began. “So many of our Vietnam veterans are still skittish about getting into crowds. So, we want to do our ‘Yellow Ribbon’ campaign. We’re asking permission to decorate city hall, the train depot and possibly putting some yellow ribbons at Heritage Park.”
Hutto said she and other Auxiliary members are asking businesses to participate in the display of the bows, which has become synonymous with veterans celebrations.
“We’re calling it ‘Paint Atmore Yellow’,” she said. “We want to get as much response as we can, because we can’t get our Vietnam veterans out to our ceremony. Hopefully next year, since it’s been five years since COVID, we can have our ceremony again.”
In other business conducted Monday, the council:
*Approved by 3-0 vote the use of Houston Avery Park by Jamel Frye for a late-summer drug and violence awareness event.
Frye told the council the community rally, which is set for September 14, is “a positive thing to bring the community together.”
*Approved a solicitor’s (or peddler’s) license for Jamarius Lewis, who does pressure washing. Such a license costs $1,000 and allows the holder to sell products or services, or hand out advertising flyers, door-to-door on residential property, unless a sign prohibits solicitations.
The council voted 3-0 to approve the license. Lewis was not at the meeting.