BACK TO YOU. THANK YOU, BILL. SEPARATE THE WAR FROM THE WARRIOR. THAT’S WHAT PEOPLE WERE ASKED TO DO AT OMAHA’S VET CENTER TODAY AS THEY HONORED VETERANS OF THE VIETNAM WAR. KETV NEWSWATCH 7 JOEY SAFCHIK HEARS FROM VETERANS WHO HOPE PEOPLE WILL TAKE A MOMENT TO RECOGNIZE SACRIFICE AND HUMANITY. BEFORE WEDNESDAY. SHARON COOPER WAS WARY OF IDENTIFYING HERSELF AS A VIETNAM VETERAN. I WANTED TO BE SURE THAT PEOPLE DIDN’T MAKE THE MISTAKE AND THINK THAT YOU KNOW, I’D BEEN TO TO IN COUNTRY AND THAT THEY’D HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE I HAD SOME AGENT ORANGE THAT I WAS GOING TO GIVE THEM OR SOMETHING. BUT NOW SHE WEARS THIS PIN WITH PRIDE. VERY NICE. I DON’T OFTEN GET RECOGNIZED AS A VIETNAM VETERAN. COOPER ENTERED THE ARMY IN 1972, AND ALTHOUGH SHE NEVER SAW COMBAT IN VIETNAM, SHE WAS PART OF THE TEAM IN GUAM. THAT EVAC KUWAITI VIETNAMESE PEOPLE. AFTER THE FALL OF SAIGON. I’M GLAD THAT PEOPLE ARE LISTENING NOW. WEDNESDAY CEREMONY RECOGNIZING PEOPLE WHO SERVED FROM. 1995 TO 1975 ON THIS 50TH ANNUAL VIETNAM VETERANS DAY, WE WAS RECOGNIZED BACK THEN. I HAD I HAD PROBLEMS GETTING THE JOB. NINE STATES MIGHT HAVE KIND OF WOKE UP TO WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID OVER THERE. HONORING THE SACRIFICES THESE VETERANS MADE AND TELLING STORIES OF THE 396 NEBRASKANS WHO CAN’T DO SO FOR THEMSELVES. MANY OF THEM WERE DRAFTED. THEY DID WHAT THEY WERE ASKED TO DO. AND IT IS IT’S OUR DUTY AS CITIZENS TO TO HONOR THAT. IRAQ VETERAN ROBERT MONTAG HOPES 50 YEARS LATER, PEOPLE SEPARATE THE AVERAGE WARRIOR FROM THE BLOODY WAR. WHEN I GOT OFF A PLANE FROM IRAQ, THE FIRST PERSON WHO MET ME WAS THIS ENORMOUS VIETNAM VETERAN. HE WAS THE SIZE OF A BEAR, AND HE GAVE ME A HUG AND HE SAID, WELCOME HOME, SON. AND I HAVE BEEN SAYING THAT TO FOLKS OF HIS GENERATION EVER SINCE. BECAUSE HE MADE SURE NO ONE DID TO US WHAT THEY DID TO HIM. AND EVEN AFTER FIVE DECADES, HE INSISTS IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO SAY WELCOME HOME AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. JOEY SAFCHIK