LAHARPE — Rena Mott-Traw was all of 20 years old when she became a widowed mother of two.
Fifty-four years later, Mott-Traw was among those honored during a somber ceremony at LaHarpe’s Willis J. Ross Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Saturday
Mott-Traw’s husband, John Arthur Mott, was among the Allen Countians who died in Vietnam.
He had been in Southeast Asia for about two months when he was killed March 22, 1967.
Mott’s trip to Vietnam was delayed briefly so he could be stateside when his son was born, Mott-Traw noted.
“Our son was 3 months old when John left, and 6 months old when he was killed,” Mott-Traw said. “It was a tough time.”
Uncertain what to do, she turned to the Lord, “who paved the way for me,” Mott-Traw recalled.
She used government assistance to attend college to earn a degree, “then I went into daycare for 37 years.”
Mott-Traw was given a special Service Family Sacrifice Pin during Saturday’s ceremony; 16 other veterans who attended received service pins.
Allen County Commissioner David Lee, a veteran of two tours in Iraq, paid homage to those who served it Vietnam.
“As a veteran of the post-Vietnam War, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude,” Lee said, struggling to maintain his composure. “As I look back on the lessons learned, the most valuable to me is the care taken (for veterans) as we transition from the battlefield to the civilian world.”
Back then, some returned from Vietnam and were back at their old jobs within 24 hours, their service largely neglected.
“You were not welcomed home to ticker tape parades” like those who returned from World War II, he noted.
In fact, there was little formal acknowledgment of their sacrifice until 1982, when the Vietnam Veterans Memorial — also known as the Wall — was dedicated.
It has since become “one of the most hallowed places on earth,” Lee said.
“It was because of you when I returned from Iraq, I received a hero’s welcome,” he said. “I am that younger generation that looks upon our Vietnam veterans as always standing tall. I salute each one of you. I appreciate your war efforts and the generosity you and your fellow veterans have shown me and my generation of veterans. You are true heroes who will be remembered forever in my mind and in the history of our great nation.”
