BARNEGAT, N.J. \u2014 Nearly three years ago, Thy Cavagnaro set off on a mission: find every Vietnam War veteran in Barnegat and thank him for his service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Without them, she says she would not have survived. Cavagnaro\u2019s family fled Saigon on April 30, 1975 \u2014 hours before the Communist forces captured the South Vietnamese capital \u2014 and took refuge in the United States. She was a little over 1 year old at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro, now 44, of Barnegat, gave thanks to hundreds of Vietnam veterans last Thursday, unveiling what may be the country\u2019s first Vietnam veterans monument created by a Vietnamese refugee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou helped keep Communists away from our neighborhoods in Vietnam,\u201d she told hundreds of veterans and supporters at Gazebo Park in Barnegat, \u201cand you made sure we had safe passage to your own country when we lost ours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wearing a long yellow and red dress, designed like the South Vietnamese flag, Cavagnaro lifted the white cover and revealed a 21-by-28-inch black plaque, which she and her husband James purchased. In large white letters, the monument says \u201cwelcome home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The historic monument came as the country observes the first National Vietnam War Veterans Day. U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., state Sen. Christopher Connors, R-Ocean, Exercise Tiger Association Director Susan Haines and other dignitaries from across the country attended, joining hundreds of veterans at the park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Singer Ron Brooks, the first double amputee Eagle Scout, performed the national anthem. Former Navy SEAL and pundit Jonathan T. Gilliam delivered the keynote speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro said she hopes the monument inspires others to launch projects in their own towns to honor veterans who served in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ocean County is home to 42,494 veterans, more than any other county in New Jersey, according to census figures. The Barnegat American Legion alone has 768 veterans, including many who served in Vietnam, says commander Gene O\u2019Grady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For those veterans, the ceremony means getting recognized decades after returning to a country that didn\u2019t welcome them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we came home, we did not get any of that, no parades, no welcomes,\u201d says Army veteran Rick Amsterdam, a Barnegat resident who served from 1969 to 1972. \u201cI stepped off the train. I didn\u2019t even get home yet to see my mother, I was in a fistfight in the middle of a road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro wanted to change that. She pitched the monument and a series of \u201cThank You\u201d dinners to the American Legion board members, in hopes of getting their blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the dedication ceremony, Frank Healey recalled the attacks he and fellow veterans faced after the war when they wore their uniform in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had gone like our older brothers, who went to Korea. We had gone like our fathers, who went to World War II,\u201d said Healey, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10092 who served from 1967 to 1968, \u201cbut we didn\u2019t come home. We came back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then he turned to Thy and James Cavagnaro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThank you for this day,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is home. This is home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro has no memory of Vietnam, but she grew up hearing her family\u2019s stories of their harrowing escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her uncle, captain of a Vietnamese naval minesweeper, could only fit 104 people on his ship. Initially, they considered leaving behind family members on her mom\u2019s side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe had a family of 12, she could only take two people,\u201d Cavagnaro said. \u201cShe had to have her father decide, to choose who would live and whoever would die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They changed their minds when they heard the city was being captured. His ship left with an estimated 998 people and a dog on board \u2014 hours before the U.S.-backed regime announced its surrender to the North Vietnamese forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe literally escaped by the skin of our teeth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tens of thousands packed boats fleeing the Communist forces and died out at sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ship Cavagnaro\u2019s family boarded broke down along the way, but it was towed across the South China Sea to U.S. forces in the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro\u2019s family was sent to a refugee camp in Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, where they started their new lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro says she grew up hearing about her family\u2019s escape story, but she didn\u2019t delve deep until the anniversary of the war four decades later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She and her husband, James, started exploring the history of the Vietnam War and learned about the struggles veterans faced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro embarked on a personal mission. Whenever she saw a Vietnam War veteran, she would walk up and thank him for his service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro honked the horn at motorists with Vietnam War bumper stickers, holding up a sign that says \u201cwelcome home.\u201d She often pulled over when she saw veterans with Vietnam War caps and hugged them. She expressed her gratitude on her Facebook page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point, she said was, \u201cto help them see that not everybody felt that way, that people like me \u2014 a Vietnamese refugee, people that they were trying to help \u2014 felt differently and were really appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cavagnaro started planning the memorial in 2017. Once she got approval from the township and local veterans groups, she and her husband purchased the stone and made arrangements to place it in Gazebo Park at the base of the flagpole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Cavagnaros pursued a more intimate approach of connecting with veterans. They organized dinners for small groups of Vietnam War veterans, first at Backward Flag Brewing in Lacey and then at the American Legion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA lot of these guys never got the proper welcome home. Really, a lot of them never got the recognition that they deserved,\u201d said O\u2019Grady, the local American Legion commander. \u201cTo me, that was a no brainer to be able to have Thy meet the Vietnam veterans from our town in our post.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About 20 veterans and their families were invited each time. Men who for years kept quiet about Vietnam swapped war stories with fellow soldiers and Cavagnaro as she shared her family\u2019s story of coming to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe told them, \u2018Because of you, people like me and my family were able to start over,\u2019\u201d she recalled. \u201cWe were able to survive, first of all, and then start over in this amazing country of yours. . That\u2019s when it clicked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amsterdam, the Army veteran, reminisced with Cavagnaro\u2019s father about Nui Ba Den, the Black Virgin Mountain near the Cambodian border. Amsterdam was a radio messenger for a nearby artillery and infantry unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tony Kopke, a Coast Guard veteran from Barnegat, shared stories of the Coast Guard\u2019s role with Cavagnaro. He brought maps, posters and brochures about the Coast Guard to the Barnegat American Legion after the dedication ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost people don\u2019t even know the Coast Guard was there,\u201d Kopke said. \u201cThe Coast Guard probably helped save many, many lives by intercepting all those guns and ammunition and supplies that came from sea from North Vietnamese.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They cleared their schedules to attend the dedication ceremony and meet fellow Vietnam veterans. Hundreds flocked to the park and then to the Barnegat American Legion for food. There Amsterdam met with veterans from across the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among them was Ngo Quyen, who served as a lieutenant for the Republic of Vietnam. He served in the war on the South Vietnamese side from 1968 to 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cToday, it\u2019s their day,\u201d he said of the U.S. veterans. \u201cNew day, new way. They should be proud when they have their Vietnam War cap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n