CROWN POINT | Kevin Scanlon recalls arriving at Travis Air Force Base in California aboard a medical transport in 1970 after being injured fighting in Vietnam with the U.S. Army's 199th Light Infantry Brigade.

Scanlon and the other wounded soldiers were met by some 35 protesters.

"They gave us the finger and called us ‘baby killers'. We didn't get close enough for them to spit on us," said the 58-year old Munster resident, adding with a wry smile, "It was not a warm welcome."

When Frank Wayne, of Gary, returned home from serving with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam in both 1963 and again in 1965, he said, "we were told not to wear our uniforms and not to indicate to anyone we were in the military."

That kind of homecoming was "fairly common" for those who served during the Vietnam War, said state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, a Vietnam War veteran who was a member of the 17th Air Calvary.

"It was pretty ugly," he recalled.

Although "time heals all wounds," Soliday said the reaction of Americans to their own soldiers "is a sore spot for most Vietnam vets."

But he said it's not too late to thank those who fought.

On Monday evening Soliday and state Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake, presented a proclamation from the Indiana General Assembly declaring March 30 "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" at a ceremony at American Legion Post 20. The proclamation was sponsored in the General Assembly by Soliday and state Rep. Dale Grubb, D-Covington.

The Vietnam War, which lasted from 1961 to 1975, became "a divisive issue among people in the United States," the proclamation reads. "Members of the U.S. armed services were caught in the crossfire of public debate about the involvement of the U.S. in South Vietnam."

Several dozen Vietnam veterans attended the presentation, including members of the Patriot Guard Riders.

Dale Ready, of Francesville, Ind., was among those who traveled to Crown Point.

A paratrooper with the 57th Air Medivac, Ready said he was among the first military advisers to arrive in Vietnam in 1962.

"When I came back I wasn't wearing my uniform," he said. "I snuck back."

Soliday and Landske have been presenting the proclamation to area Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts throughout Northwest Indiana, and the reaction of Vietnam era veterans has been positive.

"It's not hugely emotional, but it's an expression of ‘thank you,' " Soliday said. "We're glad somebody finally said ‘Welcome home.'

"We sent them there," Soliday continued. "They did their job. To be able to say ‘thank you' is very important."