'Freedom isn’t free': Heroes Honor Festival celebrate Vietnam vets at Daytona Speedway

DAYTONA BEACH — The sun shone brightly on Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, where about 27,000 gathered this Memorial Day Weekend to celebrate the service of Vietnam veterans.

Friends and families congregated in the sweltering venue to pay tribute to those who served their country and some who made the ultimate sacrifice.

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The event was organized by U.S. Army veteran Ben Peterson through his nonprofit organization Engage Your Destiny.

Founded in 2016, the nonprofit’s mission is to “build spiritual resilience in the men and women of the United States Armed Forces by focusing on engaging active military, veterans and their families through digital and in-person experiences.”

The event on Saturday was a celebration of Vietnam War veterans, who Peterson said didn’t deserve the poor welcome they received when they returned after the war.

“(Vietnam veterans) did a lot of combat,” Peterson said. “And they came home and were treated like trash for it.”

Peterson is a U.S. Army veteran who served from 2004 until 2012, with a stint in Iraq in 2008 and 2009. He said the prospect of coming home after his service left him feeling extraordinarily vulnerable.

But veterans that showed up to greet him at the time — Vietnam veterans — put him at ease.

“When I came home, there were Vietnam vets to welcome me home,” he said. “That’s what got through — a real clear vision in my heart to do this (event), and that they were worth it.”

The work of making the festival a reality was an uphill battle for Peterson and his organization, but in the end, worth the effort.

Peterson told The News-Journal earlier this week that he was overwhelmed by the positive response he got from Vietnam veterans during his travels promoting the event.

“They were stunned that something so outstanding was being done for them,” he said in an interview this week. “When I was working the phones, I talked to a veteran in Indiana who told me, ‘I haven’t gone to anything veteran-related, much less Vietnam-related since I came back from the war and was spit on and called a baby killer.’”

Vietnam veterans 'weren’t welcome' back home

As organizers gave attendees golf cart rides around the Speedway, the intense heat made many look for shade in nearby tents.

Art Ohlman served as a guard on an Army base in Vietnam. He said part of the reason it is important to celebrate Vietnam veterans is their smaller number compared to today’s military.

“Sometimes our voices don’t get out there,” Olhman said. “A lot of (Vietnam veterans) were spit on. They weren’t welcome home by a lot of citizens.”

He said he feels that today’s younger generation doesn’t “understand what these soldiers are going through.”

“Freedom isn’t free,” Olhman said.

Graydon Vest is an active duty Army veteran who has served for 17 years.

“They didn’t get the homecoming they deserved,” Vest said, referring to Vietnam veterans. “There was the political climate at the time, the war was on somebody else’s doorstep — I just don’t think America stood behind them like they should have.”

The festival was supposed to kick off Friday evening, but strong storms in the area forced organizers to cancel and hold the entire event on Saturday.

Several guest speakers and musicians were scheduled to take the stage and celebrate along with the crowd. Among those scheduled were singer Toby Keith, Ann-Margret, Lt. Col. Oliver North and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Peterson said that the presence of such high profile figures is a testament to the value of Vietnam veterans.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with us,” he said. “It has do do with how amazing their service was and the patriots they are.”

'We see you, we love you'

For John Louns Brough, who served by helping Vietnam veterans returning from the war in the 1970s, events like these can help reinforce the importance of their service.

“They can give (veterans) a little bit of satisfaction and recognition for what they did,” Louns Brough said.

He remembered how the Veterans Affairs system was overwhelmed by the number of soldiers returning from the war and how many didn't have access to proper treatment.

“Hopefully, they’re trying to make up for it now,” he said. “The military men (coming back from Vietnam) were just in a bad situation.”

He said he was most excited to see the other veterans at the festival enjoying themselves with their families.

Peterson hoped the message of the Heroes Honors Festival came in loud and clear to Vietnam veterans.

“This is an event to say ‘You are not forgotten — we see you, we love you,” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Vietnam vets celebrated at Heroes Honor Festival in Daytona Beach