50 Years of Welcome

On March 23, 2023, I received an email reference request from Elaina Schramm, Executive Assistant to the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs. Could the Library locate photographs of the 1973 Vietnam Prisoner of War (POW) welcome reception hosted by Governor Linwood Holton at the Executive Mansion? After searching both Governor Holton’s gubernatorial and private papers, I located photographs of the May 20, 1973, event in the personal correspondence of First Lady Virginia “Jinks” Holton and emailed scans of the pictures to Elaina.¹ One of the photographs, a group picture of the 15 POWs, significant others, and Governor Holton, became the center piece of a 50^th anniversary reunion of the event held by Governor Glenn Youngkin at the Executive Mansion on March 29, 2023.² The three POWs attending the reception, Staff Sergeant David Harker, Captain Eugene “Red” McDaniel, and Commander Paul Galanti, signed the enlarged photograph. POW/MIA Recognition Day and Elaina’s request inspired me to write this brief blog post about the 1973 event to honor the 15 Vietnam POWs who attended.

On January 27, 1973, Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon’s National Security Advisory, signed the Paris Peace Accords that ended direct United States military involvement in Vietnam. The accords also included a ceasefire, a 60-day withdrawal of all foreign troops, and the return of all POWs (civilian and military) by North Vietnam.³ Between February 12 and April 1, 1973, 591 American POWs were returned to the United States as part of Operation Homecoming. Governor Linwood Holton wrote welcome home letters to returning POWs connected to Virginia. Holton’s first letter, dated February 14, 1973, was to Lieutenant Commander Paul E. Galanti, a POW from June 17, 1966, to February 12, 1973. Galanti’s wife Phyllis, a Richmond resident since 1967, became an a tireless POW advocate. The City of Richmond honored Galanti with a motorcade and a welcome home ceremony in Capitol Square on March 14, 1973. At the end of Operation Homecoming, Governor Holton invited all of Virginia’s Vietnam POWs to a reception at the Executive Mansion on May 20, 1973.

Fifteen former POWs attended. For each veteran below, I have included links to a brief biography from the Veterans Tributes website, the Military Times Wall of Valor Project listing their awards, and (where applicable) obituaries, interviews for the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress, and oral histories for the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. Please click on an image to learn more about each invidiual.