GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - The streets of a Central Nebraska city were filled with celebration and remembrance on Wednesday as the community came together to celebrate its Vietnam veterans.

Seven National Guard soldiers marched from the Veterans Club Park to the Hall County Courthouse to remember the seven local Hall County veterans who were killed in action during the Vietnam War.

This event led up to a special ceremony at the courthouse where city leaders officially commemorated the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

Several speakers said this public celebration was especially important because these veterans faced a mostly negative reception when they first returned home all those years ago.

"They were treated horribly and a lot of the veterans were even ashamed of their service. Our country fortunately has turned around and seen the errors in its ways and has decided that we always need to honor our veterans of any war and not forget that their service mattered," said Hall County Warriors Memorial member and veteran John Larson.

"We weren't ready for the way we were going to be treated when we came home. Protestors all over America were protesting the war. I made three trips to Vietnam and each time I came home, the protestors seemed to know when we were coming,"  said Vietnam war veteran Jim Seims.

Seims spoke on his experiences during the war, including how he remained silent for decades afterwards because of the criticism.

His anecdotes left many onlookers in tears as he said nothing could prepare a person for war.

The event concluded with Hall county board member Gary Quandt descending from the courthouse after spending 50 hours atop the building.

Quandt's tribute is also a fundraising effort for the Hall County Warriors Memorial, which is a monument project that honors those who have served from 1975 and beyond.

"The Hall County Warriors Memorial Committee is working on building a new memorial to honor the Vietnam-era veterans.
It will be in the same park where we built our last memorial, which was the globe to honor the soldiers of the last 50 years, and that will be at the Hall County Veterans Park," said Larson

Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, both the ceremony and fundraising efforts are continuing Hall County's mission to ensure that the legacies of Vietnam veterans are never forgotten.