Chicagotribune.com
Hundreds of Vietnam War veterans and their family members filled the Indiana War Memorial auditorium Saturday for a long-overdue homecoming celebration.
A banner stating "The city of Indianapolis Welcomes Home Vietnam Veterans" was displayed outside the memorial, as the city held its first welcome-home celebration for the veterans. Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a Marine veteran of the first Gulf War, greeted guests before and after the ceremony.
"I thought it was important for the city to do it, so at least one municipality is saying, 'Thanks for what you did,"' said Ballard, who spoke at the ceremony along with Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, adjutant general of the Indiana National Guard.
