Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration

Gilchrist's sixth annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration is a day to honor and thank the men and women in our community who served during the Vietnam War. Gilchrist is a nationally recognized nonprofit that provides care and support for people with serious illness through the end of life, through elder medical care, counseling and support, and hospice care. Many of the people we care for at Gilchrist are veterans, and many of them served during the Vietnam era.

One of the most painful chapters in our nation's history was the treatment of our Vietnam veterans and Vietnam-era veterans when they returned home. Gilchrist is committed to making things right and giving a long overdue and joyous welcome home to Vietnam veterans everywhere. On April 7, 2024 we will come together as a grateful community to honor, thank and celebrate the veterans in our care as well as all of the veterans who served during the Vietnam War and their loved ones. This celebration is one of the many ways Gilchrist recognizes the unique needs of these veterans and thanks them for their sacrifice and service to our country.

Event Details:

11:30am - 12:30pm:  Resource Fair
12:20pm Ballroom Doors open   12:30pm - 1:30pm: Buffet Lunch
1:30pm - 3:00pm: Program

Registration closes March 25, 2024

Questions? Please contact Kim McDonnell at [email protected]. If you experience problems with the registration form, please ensure you are using an updated web browser.

Ceremony Hosts: Senator/Colonel John C. Astle, UMC (Ret.) and Colonel George Forrest, USA (Ret.)
Key Note Speaker: Sammy and Dixie Davis
Salute: TBD

Medal of Honor recipient Sammy Davis and his wife Dixie are a unique husband and wife team who have lived a lifetime of remarkable experiences; their compelling story of tragedy and triumph reads like a movie script. Together, they offer inspiration and hope for new beginnings to audiences of all ages.

The Medal of Honor is the United States' highest military award given to members of the armed forces for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Sammy is one of three Medal of Honor recipients portrayed in Feats of Valor, a documentary aired on the Discovery Military Channel, and he is an ambassador for the Gary Sinise Foundation which serves veterans and responders. His book, You Don't Lose 'Til You Quit Trying reveals a gripping account of his Vietnam experience and powerful lessons he learned about love in the midst of war.

Sammy's wife, Dixie, lends her sparkling humor, love for people, and unique perspective as a veteran's wife. She talks candidly about the effects of post-traumatic stress on spouses and families from all wars plus veteran's health issues that often result from war experiences.

Both Sammy and Dixie lost a spouse to cancer before God brought them together. Their tender love story is chronicled in Dixie's book, Endless Love and Second Chances. Dixie addresses grief, faith, mending a broken heart, and new hope in a poignant story that is sometimes painful, often funny, and filled with lessons about life. She espouses family values learned from growing up on a dairy farm, shares her views on marriage, and she talks about what it is like to live with a public figure who is the love of her life. Dixie is the only Medal of Honor wife in recent history to write a memoir.

Thank you to the members of Gilchrist's
We Honor Veterans Task Force

William Hill, USA
 Chair, Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration

Tim Price, USA
 Vice-Chair, Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration