National Vietnam Veterans Day was March 27.

Pembroke made sure it’s veterans from that long ago war were remembered Monday night.

It was a simple ceremony, with City Administrator Alex Floyd reading a resolution recognizing the sacrifices those men and women made and the shabby treatment many got upon returning home.

While all the city’s Vietnam veterans were invited, only a handful showed up: Grady Sikes, Ernest Mitchell, B.J. Clark, Woody Turner and Bill Anderson.

All saw the war up close, Mitchell said, and noted that Pembroke councilman Ernest Hamilton also needed to be recognized.

“He was (in Vietnam) as an advisor and weapons trainer to the South Vietnam soldiers,” Mitchell said. “It was long before Americans even heard of Vietnam.”

Editor to be honored

Former Bryan County Now editor Jamie Parker, long a friendly rival of the Bryan County News, may be next to be honored by Pembroke City Council after a heartfelt tribute by Mayor Pro Tem Johnnie Miller, who said he was saddened by an empty chair in the front row where Parker often sat. “Jamie loved Pembroke. He’d always come up and to talk with us and he did a good job. We had a real close relationship and he’s highly missed.”

Parker died Feb. 25 at the age of 65 after a short illness.