SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Vietnam Veterans Will Hold Reunion
For two years, Pat Forster of San Juan Capistrano has searched for fellow members of the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 34th Armored Division, who served in Vietnam.
This weekend, Forster and his battalion veterans will mark the 20th anniversary of their return home in November, 1970, with a reunion in San Juan Capistrano. A march through downtown, a memorial service for those who died in battle and a barbecue will highlight the three-day reunion.
Made up mostly of draftees from California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Utah, Forster’s unit was taught tank warfare at Ft. Irwin in Barstow and shipped to Vietnam with tanks and equipment in August, 1966.
The battalion fought mainly in the Saigon region, taking part in Operation Junction City, the Tet counteroffensives of 1968 and 1969 and the Cambodian invasion.
Members from across the country and as far away as Germany are expected to attend the reunion. A five-ton granite stone, patterned after the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington and bearing the names of unit members who died in Vietnam, has been purchased by battalion survivors for Saturday’s memorial service.
The veterans’ parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. Saturday on La Zanja Street and travel south on Camino Capistrano to Mission San Juan Capistrano, where the memorial service will be held.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
