JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Eight-year-old Nicholas Burchette, a Boy Scout from Pack 464 of Mililani, placed a lei on a grave yesterday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl as part of an annual Memorial Day weekend tradition for the Boy Scouts.

Pause to reflect

Candlelight vigil at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific honors Vietnam veterans

Anh Thu Lu came to Punchbowl from Virginia to thank Vietnam War veterans last night.

Lu, whose father was a three-star general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, grew up in Vietnam during the war. She said she owes the veterans a debt of gratitude.

Lu spoke to more than 200 Vietnam War veterans and supporters at the 25th annual Vietnam Veterans candlelight ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl on the eve of traditional Memorial Day services.

Hearing that they were not welcomed back as heroes troubled Lu. "To us they are the heroes of all the heroes, and I want them to remember that," she said.

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Alan McIntosh hoped a Vietnam veterans' memorial service on the eve of Memorial Day would help him in his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder from the war in Iraq.

"It does help a lot," McIntosh said. "I may be here later on coming here to visit people from this war (in Iraq and Afghanistan)."

McIntosh, who served two tours in Iraq, is in the Veterans Affairs PTSD Residential Rehabilitation Program, which brought 10 veterans, including three from the Vietnam War, to the ceremony.

Seeing the large number of Vietnam veterans gave him hope that veterans of other wars also continue supporting each other in the future, he said.

Howard Naong, a mental health associate working with the group, said several of its members are struggling to cope with the loss of their buddies.

He said bringing them to the event shows them they are not alone, helping them cope.

"A lot of them, it's hard for them to express seeing their buddies get killed," he said.

Anh Thu Lu, a speaker at yesterday's event, said she came from Virginia to thank the veterans. Lu, whose father was a three-star general in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, grew up in Vietnam during the war.

"To think back on all those people who gave up everything they have here to go to a country so far away and help us fight to defend our freedom and democracy, I think that's just priceless, and I owe them a debt and gratitude," she said. She said she was troubled to hear they were not treated as heroes when they returned home. "To us they are the heroes of all the heroes, and I want them to remember that."

After dusk, audience members shared a flame to light their candles, symbolically rekindling the remembrance of those who gave their lives for freedom, said master of ceremonies Rene Berthiaume.

With most military helicopters fighting in the Middle East, a lone Coast Guard helicopter did a flyover. It circled back, turning on a searchlight above the cemetery, representing the search for missing soldiers.

After a rendition of taps, Gail Lincoln stood with her husband, Wayne, wiping away tears. The couple was visiting the grave of Wayne's father, who served in Vietnam twice. Gail's brother fought in the Vietnam War, but he returned home.

"I'm just happy that my brother was able to come back," she said.

Greg Pack, a 56-year-old freelance minister who did three tours in Vietnam, said attending the ceremony makes him feel good. Last year, the first time he attended the ceremony, was the first time "I have ever been recognized for what we tried to do."

"It's good to be honored," he said. "It's a good thing."