Vietnam Vets of 2 Nations Miss Barbecue Connections

It was supposed to be a bread-breaking event, a chance for soldiers from two vastly different cultures who fought together in the same war to reflect on their common experiences.

But the invited Vietnamese group from a Baptist church in Pacoima never made it Saturday to the second annual barbecue of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

And the handful of American vets who filtered in and out of the picnic at Lake Balboa Park instead mingled among themselves and wondered what it would have been like to reconnect with their former Vietnamese allies.

“We’re surprised and somewhat disappointed,” said Ed Hedrick, president of the local chapter. “I think it would’ve been an interesting afternoon to talk to some of their vets and the Vietnamese families who might’ve come.”

Hedrick, 49, got the idea to invite Vietnamese veterans and others from the Valley’s Vietnamese community after a couple of chance meetings with Amerasian children of American soldiers, and a top South Vietnamese air force general.

“It really struck me that we need closer relations between American and Vietnamese veterans,” said Hedrick, who served in the Marines during the war. “I felt it was time we extended a hand to them and forged a stronger understanding and bond with each other.”

The annual picnics, and other events sponsored by the Valley veterans’ chapter, are a continuous salute of appreciation for the soldiers’ participation in this nation’s most debated war.

Hedrick and others who attended the barbecue said they will still try to get together with Vietnamese vets living in the Valley area.

“It’s something that needs to be done,” said veteran Dick Rose, 64, who fought in Vietnam in the 1960s and before that in Korea. “It’s long overdue.”