Frank Bilodeau : “Swanton Honors Purple Heart Recipients”

SWANTON, Vermont (WCAX) – The Fourth of July is a time for celebrating the birth of the nation, but it is also a day to remember the sacrifices made by those who have fought for freedom. On Independence Day, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 778 in Swanton raised the Purple Heart flag to honour and remember residents who were wounded in war or who never returned home.

Frank Bilodeau, a veteran who was wounded in Iraq, expressed his gratitude for the flag-raising ceremony. “It means a lot of things, but I think mostly it means I got to come home,” he said.

Other veterans shared their harrowing experiences from their time in Vietnam. David Hemingway recounted a moment when he was wounded in action. “I got hit with the first bullet. The guy next to me got shot in the neck. The guy on my right got shot through the shoulder,” he remembered.

Elbert Allen Towsley, who received three Purple Hearts after being wounded by a mine explosion in Vietnam, emphasised the importance of raising the Purple Heart flag. “A lot of trauma going on and some people can handle it and some people can’t. The more you keep it aware, people are aware of what is going on and the sacrifice that has been made in this country. It just, it’s meaningful,” he said.

Towsley also shared his struggles with PTSD, revealing that he spent six stints in the psych ward. He highlighted the significance of commemorating Purple Heart recipients, stating, “For the people that made it out alive, bless them because it haunts us today… They gave me a purple heart for my body wounds, but they didn’t give me nothing for my mind wounds.”

Charles Magnant, a member of the VFW, explained why Independence Day was chosen for the flag-raising ceremony. “They fought for the right to do their freedoms, to do what they want to do. And Independence Day is the day we took over our freedoms, so it’s the perfect day to do it,” he said.

Despite the challenges they faced, the veterans expressed pride in their service to their country. Hemingway reflected on his time in Vietnam, saying, “I was proud to do it. It made me a proud American.”