LZ Lambeau event welcomes Wisconsin's Vietnam veterans home

Thirty-five years after the Vietnam War ended, Wisconsin residents have another chance to express gratitude to those who served in the controversial conflict.

This spring, civilians and servicepeople will come together to honor Wisconsin's Vietnam veterans in a special ticketed ceremony taking place Saturday, May 22, at Green Bay's Lambeau Field. The massive thank-you event is the centerpiece for LZ Lambeau, a weekend of free exhibits, concerts and lectures that commemorate the service of Vietnam-era veterans. It's the welcome home many Vietnam vets say they never got.

In military speak, the term LZ means landing zone, a place secured for safe landing where Vietnam soldiers were often deployed. LZ Lambeau organizers chose Lambeau Field as the event location, both for its large seating capacity and its status as a beloved Wisconsin icon.

The sweeping statewide project grew out of Wisconsin Public Television's (WPT) most recent edition of its four-part Wisconsin War Stories series, Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories. In more than 100 interviews conducted for the documentary, producers noted a common theme, that Vietnam-era veterans returned from war feeling displaced, neglected and even scorned. Veterans say the hostile homecoming they often received--unseen in previous or subsequent military conflicts--made emotional recovery from combat more difficult.

WPT responded by partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Wisconsin Historical Society to organize LZ Lambeau. Besides Saturday evening's Welcome Home Ceremony in Lambeau Field, events on May 21-23 include:

• A cross-state motorcycle honor ride of Wisconsin Vietnam veterans, who will leave La Crosse on the morning of Friday, May 21, and arrive in Green Bay that afternoon. (For information about the ride, please call toll-free 1-800-422-9707.)

• As part of the Welcome Home Ceremony, a preview of Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories on the Packer's giant Tundra Vision screen.

• Photographer James Gill's traveling exhibition, Back in the World, a show of large-scale color portraits featuring veterans who participated in the Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories project.

• The Moving Wall, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D.C.

• An exhibit of military vehicles and military aircraft.

Meanwhile, art and history exhibits, public talks, veterans' listening sessions and preview screenings of Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories are underway around the state. Of the project, WPT's Director of Television James Steinbach says, "It's the biggest thing we've ever done."

Wisconsin native Daniel Pierce, who served two tours of duty with the U.S. Marines in the 1960s, appears in the WPT documentary. After four decades, eight trips to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and a pilgrimage to Vietnam in 2005, Pierce says he's still seeking peace.

"I don't know, I think part of you is forever lost," he says. "But there's got to be a landing zone somewhere that we can go on from. You'd think we'd be there by now, but there's still a lot of guys that haven't found their way home."

All are invited to LZ Lambeau to honor Pierce and his fellow veterans, Steinbach stresses. "People assume this is only for veterans. It's not only for veterans. It's a thank you for those of us who want to show our gratitude, and it's a way for vets to connect with each other in ways they haven't been able to before," he says. A special outreach effort is also in progress to encourage the participation of the families of the 1,244 Wisconsinites who died in the war, and the families of those returned veterans who did not live long enough to be welcomed home.

Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories premieres in three hour-long installments airing May 24, 25 and 26, 2010.