Produced by Mary Duke.

There was no shortage of red, white, and blue over the weekend of LZ Lambeau.

Volunteers handed out miniature American flags to patrons at Lambeau Field’s outdoor grounds. Hundreds of people arrived wearing their patriotism on their T-shirts. But the ones most decked out in stars and stripes were the motorcyclists involved in Friday’s Honor Ride.

Duane Meyer, of Chaska, Minnesota, stood in front of his black bike and joked about how he still needed to get it washed. Two small flags were secured beside his front wheel while a larger flag fluttered in the wind, behind his leather seat. Around him, a handful of bikes were similarly draped in stars and stripes.

While readjusting his black, American Legion Riders beret, covering his white hair, Meyer explained how he was not an official participant in the Honor Ride. Instead, he showed his support by coming in early and escorting the Diamond Posse, a group of female riders and vet supporters originally from San Antonio, into Green Bay.

“I’m here to make sure that these guys know that people want to welcome them back really well and it’s nice to see that people care,” explained Meyer.

Meyer himself served in Vietnam as a combat engineer in the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. When he returned home, he returned to his job as a confectionist with the Powell Candy Company. However, he quickly realized there was no real future in the job he’s had prior to Vietnam. He soon switched to a career in sales marketing. Meyer described readjustment, beyond just his daily profession, as a difficult and a “really messed up” period of his life.

“But I had the blessing of having a really good woman waiting for me. She straightened my act up…that’s what really made it for me,” he says, holding back the tears.

Written by Zahra Haider.

The next tune that played was “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You,” but the lyrics had been changed to welcome veterans home. “We were never welcomed home, and it’s about time. I wish this would have happened years ago,” one leather-clad vet commented. “We remember our comrades who didn’t come back. They gave their lives so we would be free.”

Other veterans attending the event had a different perspective. Bert Bachino who served in the Second Corps in Vietnam said, “Too little, too late,” and was quick to point out what we’ve forgotten. “There is a cart here today that they used to stack bodies on like logs. Bodies with holes in them, and you had to pound them on the chest to make sure they were dead.” For the weekend of LZ Lambeau, the cart was staged with green supply crates and a neatly pressed military uniform hanging from the rafters. Little kids played with chalk near the cart in the motor pool exhibit, and bystanders quickly glanced, took photographs, and moved on to look at a barrack replica. Paint now covers the dried and forgotten blood.

“Yes, the well-functioning vets are here, but what about the ones that aren’t well adjusted and they’re homeless on the street?” questioned Bert. A new singer took the stage and paused to point out the sound of helicopters overhead. “You hear what that is? It’s the sign of hope!” she shouted.

“B-52 pilots were isolated. They never saw what happened: the misery, the stench, the flies. No one remembers this stuff. It’s terrible what we did to their country,” Bert explains. “When you kill people, it comes back to haunt you.”

The beer tent was flowing with camaraderie, guitars were shouting, and LZ Lambeau t-shirts were for sale. Bert walked away with his wife, taking part in the festivities but not forgetting the consequences and victims of war.

Written and Photographed by Tiffany Schreiber

“Superior Central High School in Superior, Wisconsin, class of 1965,” Susan said proudly. “We were the last graduating class.” John Bozinski and Roy Edelstein graduated with the Sajec’s in 1965. Susan lived one block from Bozinski, who she described as tall, thin and very sweet. She remembered Edelstein as a tiny guy with a beautiful, deep-spoken voice. They were both killed in Vietnam, ages of 22 and 20, respectively. Robert “Bobby” Erickson graduated one class ahead. He was killed in Vietnam in 1967 at the age of 21.

“We used to listen to Elvis music together,” Susan said. “He was my brother’s best friend.”

Like the other young men from Superior Central High School, Larry was drafted at the age of 19. “You know… when you’re 19, you don’t think anything of it. You just go and do it,” Larry said.

Larry was drafted into the Marine Corps, a rare placing. He joked about the spiffy uniforms in the Marines and the irony of his truck company’s station at Red Beach, near DaNang where they were surrounded by white sand. It was there that he rose to the rank of Lance Corporal.

After completing his service, Larry returned to northern Wisconsin. “[Susan] hung around until after I came home and we ended up getting married,” Larry said of his wife.

More than 40 years after Larry was drafted, the Sajec’s attended LZ Lambeau with their three children. The family toured the grounds and attended the LZ Lambeau Tribute Ceremony on Saturday night. Sunday morning, Susan and Larry took a moment to remember their classmates and friends from Douglas County.

“The news reports said how many were killed every week, but they didn’t name anybody like they do now,” Susan said. “Nobody had a name, they were just statistics,” Susan explained.

“58,235 people were killed in Vietnam, that’s a lot of people,” Larry added quietly.

Written and Photographed by Lauren Knoche.

On Friday afternoon (May 21, 2010), a woman with short gray hair, glasses, and a Rosie the Riveter pin fastened to her Army-green jacket toured the grounds of LZ Lambeau. Unlike many of the women there, she is not a veteran, nor family of a veteran; she is a member of the band She 5.

Cheryl Schwartz – formerly Cheryl Young – came to perform with the all-female band to thank the Vietnam Veterans. Her last performance was in 1969 during the band’s last concert of its Vietnam tour.

In 1968, entertainment organizers searched the country for bands with girls to perform for the troops. They found She 5, an all-female rock-and-roll band from Fox Valley, Wisconsin. The group was comprised of five girls between the ages of 14 and 18: guitarist Darlene Ryba, keyboardist Cheryl Young, drummer Audrey Reffke, bass player Patsy Yingling, and lead singer and guitarist Pam Hurst.

After convincing their parents to let them tour the war zone, the girls boarded a plane in Appleton and made their way overseas. They landed in Saigon and began playing throughout Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea. They put on as many as three shows a day, seven days a week while on tour.

“Most of our tour was done in Vietnam,” Schwartz said. “We played down in the delta, on these little floating wood things in the swamp with our power coming from a gas generator. Wherever there was a need, we went.”

Schwartz said the group was in high demand due to the unpopularity of the war effort back home. “The troops were treated poorly. They really felt like nobody cared, and we heard that time and time again. It was just good to prove that somebody did [care].”

On Friday night – more than forty years later – you could feel a love and respect between the She 5 and hundreds of veterans attending the reunion concert. The band played its Vietnam tour set list and had the crowd on their feet, singing along. After the two-song encore finished, all five women were surrounded by fans, seeking autographs and interviews.

After four decades (children and grandchildren), the She 5 are still rock stars.

Written by Lauren Knoche.

Photography by Amelia Pisapia.