‘He deserves this’: A Hanford hero’s welcome home

HANFORD, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – Vietnam Veteran Gene Oliveira– fighting cancer, returns to a tribute from the community he fought to defend.

Community, family, friends and neighbors all came together to give Vietnam Veteran Gene Oliveira the welcome home he deserved long ago.

His daughter, Kamala Devries says they wanted to make his homecoming as special as him.

“It’s been a long journey for my dad, past eight months, but he’s a gentleman that keeps going and up until, three weeks ago he was still golfing as much as he could. And then three weeks ago is when he kind of took a turn and we had to take him back up to Stanford,” said Devries.

She adds those who fought in the Vietnam War were treated disrespectfully when they returned to the United States from military action.

Devries says for a long time, her dad was not ready to talk about his time in the Vietnam war.

“Nobody realizes how much that plays on an individual’s mind. So that is very challenging for people. I know now, though, my dad will be able to go in peace, and that’s what I hope that most military people will be able to do, is clean their soul and go in peace and understand that no matter what they did in the war, they did it for our freedom,” Devries said.

She hopes that other returning veterans receive a more fitting homecoming.

“I hope this shows people that our troops and all of our veterans, all of our military people deserve the world and deserve our support. And please honor all of them, because we wouldn’t have any of this right now without them,” Devries said.

Friends working to ensure he gets the honor that he deserves.

“He served with honor, courage, valor, and he didn’t come back to a welcoming country. And so, he’s been battling this cancer up in Stanford for the last month or so. And I knew he was coming home. And something told me, you know what, let’s give him a hero’s welcome. He deserves this. The veterans who served in Vietnam, they deserve this,” Bill Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson lives next door to Oliveira, honoring his service, and acknowledging his good friend.

“He is a great neighbor, a amazing family man, a great golfer, he was golfing up until the until he went to Stanford and still beating people. So he is just a nice, nice man to have around. And an amazing husband and father and grandfather to his family,” Wilkinson said.

Wilkinson says the country owes Oliveira and other veterans a debt that can never be fully repaid, one that should be acknowledged sooner, rather than later.

“This is for Gene, for his bravery, for his courage and all he’s done for our country, the sacrifice that he made. And we’re immensely proud of him. And he deserves this hero’s welcome. You know, we do a good job of honoring our veterans after they’re gone. But this is something special we can do for him so he can have that memory,” Wilkinson said.

Oliveira’s family appreciates the love and support received from the community.

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