A new documentary honoring Vietnam veterans who live in Harford County debuted last week to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the war.

Produced by HarfordTV, the 24-minute film, “The Vietnam War: Lived and Remembered by Harford County Veterans,” allows veterans to speak about their experiences serving in the war and what things were like once they returned home.

George W. Blake, a veteran who participated in the film, says he chose to share his story in order to work through what happened during the war. Blake served as a water purification specialist in Vietnam from July 1966 to July 1967 as part of the 84th Engineer Battalion.

“When you’re in therapy they get you to try and talk about it,” he said. “You never forget it.”

America was militarily involved in Vietnam from the mid-1950s to 1975 More than 58,000 U.S. troops   died in the war.

Included in that number was Blake’s high school classmate, Frederick Wood Bivens, Jr., who lost his life four weeks before he was set to return home.

The United States’ participation in the war sparked protests and civil unrest and veterans throughout the film shared stories about those times. Some talked about how they felt tension when they wore their uniforms on the street as civilians lost their trust in the military.

“I remember wearing a uniform and being spat upon, being looked at with disdain, the protestors calling us names,” John Favara, who served as an operating room specialist domestically during the war, said in the documentary. “It was a very difficult time.”

Larry Parker, who served in the infantry for Alpha Company, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, says he hopes the video educates the next generation, giving them a clear understanding of the difficult times and the sacrifices many made.

“We were all young kids, we were 18, 19 years old,” Parker said. “Hopefully they won’t have to do anything like that again … they learn through parts of history.”

After watching the film, Parker’s girlfriend, Marcy Malinowski, reflected on his service, saying she was proud he had the courage to serve   in Vietnam and share his experience in the film.

“And glad that I never had to experience it personally like he did,” she said. “I don’t think I would have survived.”

The full documentary is available to the public on https://harfordtv.org/.

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