June 6 events will honor Nebraska veterans of D-Day, Vietnam (2024)

More than half a century after the last Nebraska soldier left Vietnam alive, those who died there during the Vietnam War are being permanently memorialized this week in their home state.

The Nebraska VietnamVeterans Memorial in Papillion will be dedicated Thursday in a ceremony at 11 a.m. at the SumTur Amphitheater, adjacent to the new monument.

Thursday also marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of France during World War II. An event at 7:30 a.m. at Memorial Park in Omaha will honor D-Day veterans.

And at 1 p.m. Thursday, state officials will officially open a $9.4 million expansion of the Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home in Bellevue.

Gov. Jim Pillen and former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel — himself a Vietnam veteran and former U.S. senator for Nebraska — top the list of guest speakers at the dedication of the new memorial for 400 Nebraska service members who died during the Vietnam War.

Free tickets to attend the event in person are gone, said Lisa Cuevas-Jorgensen, vice president of the Nebraska Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation. But those without tickets may watch on a large video screen on the football field at Papillion-La Vista South High School, which is also adjacent to SumTur.

“It is both a relief and an honor to have been part of this,” said Cuevas-Jorgensen, whose late uncle Raymond Olsufka, served in Vietnam.

Three local Vietnam War veterans conceived of the memorial in 2017 and sold the idea to veterans across the state. The COVID-19 pandemic initially slowed fundraising, and post-pandemic inflation doubled the expected cost to $7.3 million.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in March 2022, but construction was delayed until September 2023, when an infusion of $2.5 million in state funds allowed the foundation to finish the project.

The new memorial features a UH-1 Huey helicopter used during the war and restored by veterans and students from Iowa Western Community College’s aviation maintenance program.

In addition, 11 obelisks tell the story of the 11-year war and an honor wall bears the names of 396 Nebraskans who died in Vietnam.

The wall also includes the names of four sailors who were among 74 killed aboard the Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in a training exercise off the coast of South Vietnam on June 3, 1969. Three of the dead were brothers Gary, Gregory and Kelly Sage, of Niobrara, Nebraska.

After dedicating the memorial to Vietnam veterans, Pillen will travel a few miles to Bellevue to cut the ribbon on a new addition to the Eastern Nebraska Veterans Home. An open house will follow.

The 25,000-square-foot expansion adds 24 beds to the facility. It also creates a space for adult day care for 12 veterans, including medical care, bathing and meals.

Earlier Thursday, Patriotic Productions is sponsoring the tribute to D-Day veterans at Memorial Park. Hal Daub, a former congressman and Omaha mayor, will emcee the event.

Eric Krelle of Omaha, a local World War II history buff who discovered the misidentification of some of the flag-bearers in the iconic flag-raising photo from Iwo Jima, also will speak.

Four parachute jumpers, including military veterans, will land in Memorial Park at 7:20 a.m. to pay tribute to the paratroopers who jumped behind German lines at Normandy before dawn on June 6, 1944.

Bill Williams, co-founder of Patriotic Productions, said the group organized the event last week within 24 hours out of concern that World War II veterans would be overlooked on one of the most important dates of the war.

“All the attention is on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial unveiling,” Williams said. “But I decided we needed to observe their anniversary and not let it pass.”

Admission is free.