THEIR DAY AT FENWAY
The crowd, including Gov. Charlie Baker and U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy III, applauded for minutes as the parade of veterans made its way toward home plate.
Malachi Mims, a 66-year-old from Dorchester who was drafted into the Army in 1971 at age 19, said the moment meant a lot to him and the men he served with.
“It means unity and you haven’t forgot us,” Mims said. “When we first came back, the country was divided. It wasn’t like it is now. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — everyone was for it. The country was divided back then.”
Mims said the event brought back memories of his time in the Army and the brave people he fought alongside. He reveled in the camaraderie he felt while standing alongside hundreds of his fellow Vietnam vets.
“It feels good, really good, to have somebody from your generation who went through something you went through,” Mims said. “It means a lot.”
Taps and a customary call to Last Post rang out over the field and a massive American flag was draped over the Green Monster.
As the national anthem came to a close, four F-15 jets flown out of Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield buzzed the stadium.
Baker, who applauded the work that the Red Sox and Massachusetts General Hospital do for veterans through Home Base, spoke with veterans before the game.
“I said to every one of those guys, ‘Welcome home. I’m sorry it took so long.’ A couple of them said, ‘ You know, It’s never too late,’ ” Baker said.
Kennedy walked alongside a replica of the Washington, D.C., Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Van Ness Street and chatted with veterans. He said the reaction he saw from veterans who were finally recognized for their service in Vietnam will stick with him.
“Men and women in uniform today, they are for the most part met with the gratitude and respect they deserve, but it wasn’t always the case,” Kennedy said.
“There were a number of older gentlemen who seemed like pretty tough guys, and there was not a dry eye. To hear them say the words ‘ thank you’ and ‘ welcome home,’ the emotion that they showed, the emotion you could feel in the crowd, from a response that was 50 years delayed was extraordinarily powerful.”