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Rocky Hill veterans home celebrates, uplifts those who served Connecticut and US

There are more than 100,000 veterans living in Connecticut and more than 20% of them served in the Vietnam war.

ROCKY HILL, Conn. — Friends and family honored their loved ones for their service and commitment on Monday at the Veteran's Home & Hospital in Rocky Hill.

“It means a lot; it means a lot to all the veterans here,” Keenan Francis, a United States Army veteran, said. “To be recognized, to know the service, what we’ve done for our country. We appreciate everyone who came today.”

In addition to music and dinner, veterans also received socks.

“It might seem a little weird right? It's something that you take for granted but we were told those items that people take for granted like socks, are sought out here,” Heath Grossman, a partner at Johnson Brunetti said.

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For some veterans, it was an emotional day as they remembered their loved ones.

Kenneth Speight is a Vietnam air veteran, and his dad and uncle both served in World War II.

“His brother Earl was in the infantry. Earl was the sole survivor of a Bansai attack. Everybody… in his company was killed except him,” Speight said. “He never recovered from that. In 1953 they put him in a VA home in Virginia and he died there in 1998. To me, that is a sacrifice for your country.”

U.S. Marine corps veteran Tom Callinan said young people should "ask your forbearers, your grandparents and parents, anyone who served about what they did."

“My dad would tell me stories about things that he did in World War II and I wish I had written them down and recorded them," Callinan said. "Take advantage of the people while they’re still alive to write these things down because they’ve seen so much and it can make a big difference in your life because they made a difference in all of our lives.”

There are more than 100,000 veterans living in Connecticut and more than 20% of them served in the Vietnam war.

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