Valley veteran to be inducted into Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s In Memory Program

WASILLA — Houston resident and U.S. Army veteran, Raymond Lyons died in 2019, but his memory lives on through his loved ones and the two decades he spent serving his country. His name will be inducted in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s In Memory Program for 2020, honoring his life and service.

“It’s really a nice ceremony,” Raymond’s wife, Ann Lyons, said. “I think he would like it.”

Raymond and nearly 600 other Vietnam veterans’ names from across the country will be inducted into the In Memory Program and read aloud during the annual ceremony held in Washington D.C.

“For many Vietnam veterans, coming home from Vietnam was just the beginning of a whole new fight. Many never fully recovered, either physically or emotionally, from their experiences. As these veterans pass, it is our duty and solemn promise to welcome them home to the place that our nation has set aside to remember our Vietnam veterans,” VVMF President and CEO Jim Knotts stated in a recent press release.

The 2020 ceremony was cancelled due to COVID-19, so the VVMF will hold a makeup ceremony Oct. 15 with the 2021 inductees to be honored the following day.

The VVMF provides transportation to and from the ceremony on the East Knoll of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and offers discounted rates at designated hotels to veteran families. Ann said that her son and his family are traveling with her to D.C. She said she toured D.C. with Raymond when he was alive, so this trip will be a chance to illustrate his legacy and sacrifice in audition to countless others who served in Vietnam to the next generation.

“I want the kids to know that, especially the grandkids. My grandson’s never been to D.C. so I want him to be able to do the tour,” Ann said.

Ann said they were only married for a month before Raymond left for Vietnam, and they happily spent 50 years together as husband and wife. She said that he enlisted himself instead of waiting for the draft.

“He was very patriotic,” Ann said.

The Vietnam War was a particularly bloody, drawn out, and divisive war that left many veterans with severe physical and psychological wounds. Life after the war wasn’t easy for many, leading to countless suicides and other war related deaths and illnesses like those caused by Agent Orange chemical exposure.

Ann said this ceremony means a lot to her, and it’s an appropriate tribute to Raymond and his fellow Vietnam veterans.

“It’s about time that the Vietnam vets got some recognition because they were treated so badly when they returned from Vietnam. He carried that with him for 50 years. He was a medic over there so he saw everything. He had nightmares. He had PTSD. You couldn’t shoot off any kind of fireworks around him. He’d hit the ground… We had ways of dealing with it. It was very hard for him and I met other vets who went through the same thing.”

Families can apply to have their loved ones’ names inducted into the In Memory Program online by visiting the VVMF website. There is no cost and the program is open to any veteran who served in Vietnam and died after returning home from their service.

According to the In Memory Program page, there is a plaque located within the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial site in D.C. dedicated to these veterans that reads, “In Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice.”

Applications for the 2022 program are due by March 29, 2022. For more information, visit vvmf.org/In-Memory-Program.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com