Retired Army Lt. Col. Hank Cramer, center wearing tan jacket, walks to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C., where a silent wreath laying ceremony was held in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — Nine Gold Star family members took part in a silent wreath laying ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday in support of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Nine senior enlisted members acted as escorts representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, National Guard, Coast Guard and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
The annual March 29 observance was first established in 2017, after the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act was signed into law by then-President Donald Trump. In a proclamation he signed at the time, Trump said “we embrace our responsibility to help our Vietnam veterans and their families heal from the heavy toll of war. We remember the more than 58,000 whose names are memorialized on a black granite wall in our Nation’s capital for having borne the heaviest cost of war.”
Retired Army Lt. Col. Hank Cramer was among the Gold Star family members in attendance at Wednesday’s observance at the Memorial wall in D.C. His father, Army Capt. Harry G. Cramer, commanded a Special Forces detachment that deployed in June 1957 to Vietnam, where he was killed four months later. Hank Cramer says his dad was the first U.S. soldier to die in Vietnam.
In a video interview by Northwest Public Broadcasting posted on YouTube, Cramer said “One day it occurred to me that my father was a better father in death than many fathers are in life. He left me an example of what a man is like.”
After reaching their designated wreaths placed along the Memorial, each Gold Star family member stood for some time with their escorts in respectful silence, paying tribute to all those whose names were etched on the wall. The escorts then presented a Vietnam Veterans commemoration lapel pin on each of the Gold Star members.
Carrol “Buzz” Izard, Gold Star son of Master Sgt. B.C. Izard, salutes during the playing of Taps on National Vietnam War Veterans Day at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. Also saluting at right, is Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea, and his wife, Evelyn, at left, placing her hand over her heart. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Ronnie BoisClaire and the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Sgt. Maj. Anthony Worsley attend a silent wreath laying ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, to commemorate National Vietnam War Veterans Day. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Ronnie BoisClaire and the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency Sgt. Maj. Anthony Worsley attend a silent wreath laying ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, to commemorate National Vietnam War Veterans Day. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Jeanette Chervony and Chief Master Sgt. Kyle Mullen, a member of the Space Force, attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, to commemorate National Vietnam War Veterans Day. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Retired Army Lt. Col. Hank Cramer talks with Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ramon Colon-Lozez as they make their way to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C., where a silent wreath laying ceremony was held in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Gold Star daughter Kathy Webb and Chief Master Sgt. Michael Cornitius, representingf the National Guard Bureau attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, to commemorate National Vietnam War Veterans Day. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Retired Army Lt. Col. Hank Cramer and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ramon Colon-Lozez stand at attention before a wreath placed at the midway point of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Washington, D.C., where a silent wreath laying ceremony was held in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
List of Participants
Gold Star: Marc McCabe, son of Master Sgt. Patrick J. McCabe
Military Escort: Command Sgt. Maj. Franklin Velez, CSM of the National Capital Region on behalf of the U.S. Army.
Gold Star: Gerald Foster II, son of Pfc Gerald A. Foster
Military Escort: Sgt. Maj. Daniel Krause, senior enlisted advisor for the Defense Information System Agency on behalf of the Marine Corps
Gold Star: Carrol “Buzz” Izard, son of Master Sgt. B.C. Izard
Military Escort: Master Chief of the Navy James Honea
Gold Star: Pam Cain, daughter of Col. Oscar Mauterer
Military Escort: Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass
Gold Star: Jeanette Chervony, daughter of Sgt. Eddie E. Chervony
Military Escort: Chief Master Sgt. Kyle Mullen on behalf of the Space Force
Gold Star: Brenda Brundrette, daughter of Petty Officer Richard E. Brundrette, Jr.
Military Escort: Master Chief Petty Officer Wolf on behalf of the Coast Guard
Gold Star: Kathy Webb, daughter of Tech. Sgt. William H. Crisp
Military Escort: Chief Master Sgt. Michael Cornitius on behalf of the National Guard Bureau
Ronnie BoisClaire, son of Petty Officer Ronald Alan BoisClaire
Military Escort: Sgt. Maj. Anthony Worsley, senior enlisted advisor to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Gold Star: Retired Army Lt. Col. Hank Cramer, son of Capt. Harry G. Cramer
Military Escort: Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the JCS Ramon Colon-Lopez
bongioanni.carlos@stripes.com
