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PORTLAND — There are the silent warriors. The men — primarily — who served in Vietnam.

No parades greeted them upon their return from overseas.

Instead, in many cases, they were met with indifference, and for some, outright hostility from people who opposed the war and who confused the war with the warriors.

In the main, the veterans simply moved on, finding jobs, building careers and families, but rarely talking about what they saw and what they did.

They had their memories and now-fading photographs of themselves in their youth.

And they had the roll call of places where they had served, places that once were datelines or even headlines: the Delta, the Central Highlands, I Corps, Da Nang, Dau Tieng, Tay Ninh City, Cu Chi, Dak To, Pleiku, Hue.

Times change, and with them attitudes.

And so, on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz came to the auditorium of Portland High School to recognize and thank dozens of Vietnam and Vietnam-era veterans for their service and sacrifices.

(Vietnam-era veterans are men and women who were in the armed forces during the period of 1961-75 but did not serve in Vietnam.)

In her previous role as secretary of the state, Bysiewicz had recognized World War II veterans and then veterans of Korea, the “Forgotten War.”

The logical next step was to thank Vietnam veterans, she said.

Portland was chosen as the first community where the veterans would receive a certificate thanking them for their service.

Bysiewicz was joined by state Sen. Norm Needleman of Essex and state Rep. Christie Carpino of Cromwell for the late-afternoon ceremony.

Joining them were Portland First Selectwoman Susan S. Bransfield, three selectmen, Deputy First Selectman Louis J. Pear, selectmen James R. Tripp and Ralph R. Zampano, and Town Clerk Ryan J. Curley.

Curley was able to identify some 130 Vietnam or Vietnam-era veterans from Portland who are eligible for the award.

Nearly 70 of those veterans and their families were on hand for the ceremony.

Thomas Saadi, the commissioner of Veterans Affairs, had intended to join Bysiewicz but he was called away on a family matter.

He sent a letter, which was read to the veterans by Tammy Marzik, the manager of community advocacy for the DVA.

“I wish the very best to those being honored tonight for their service and sacrifice during the Vietnam War. You not only had to endure war, but when returning home, you had to face the unjust attacks of politicians, protesters and the apathy of the American public to add to your plight.

“While our Nation has since learned from that shameful period in our history and now honors its service men and women, words of thanks and remembrance are not enough. Our words of support must be matched with actions that support all our Veterans,” Saadi wrote.

He promised to ensure the needs of the state’s 250,000 veterans will be met his department and he closed by writing, “To our Vietnam Veterans, thank you for your service and for not losing faith with our Nation which continues to owe you a great debt of gratitude.”

Needleman called attention to “the amazing sacrifices” of Vietnam veterans, while also acknowledging that many of them continue to suffer from the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

The ceremony provided Needleman with “a great opportunity to thank you all for your service.”

Carpino said “I never feel like I have the exact words” to sufficiently thank the veterans for their service.

“Just saying ‘Thank you’ sounds so hollow,” she said. “We’re not here just to say ‘thank you’; we’re here to offer you help, too, if you need it.”

“Despite the hardships, the pain and the loss you never complained,” Bysiewicz said. “What’s more, you never asked to be thanked or to be recognized.”

Some 58,220 Americans were killed in Vietnam, according to the National Archives.

Of that number, 612 were from Connecticut, Bysiewicz said. Two of those casualties came from Portland.

Army Staff Sgt. Clyde H. O’Brien was killed in action in the central coastal province of Binh Dinh on Jan. 20, 1967, just shy of his 26th birthday; Army Cpl. Peter C. Ferguson, who was killed in action in June 6, 1968, in coastal Quang Tin province in what was then northern South Vietnam; according to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s “Wall of Faces.”

Ferguson, 22, was a member of 3/21, 196th Inf. Brigade, Americal Division.

Bysiewicz, the two state legislators, Marzi, Bransfield, the selectmen and Curley then lined up across the front of the auditorium.

As each man was presented with his certificate, he passed along the line to receive the congratulations and thanks of the officials.

Bysiewicz was impressed by Thomas Goglia, an Air Force veteran who received the Bronze Star Medal in Vietnam.

The medal is given for “heroic or meritorious achievement or service.”

Coglia was a firefighter who saved the life of a pilot whose crippled Navy fighter-bomber crashed at the mammoth airbase in Da Nang.

It was only he carried the pilot to safety that Goglia learned the plane was a carrying a full weapons package of rockets and bombs.

One veteran — Charles Gagne III — questioned why no women were present.

A cryptographic technician in the Navy for six years, Gagne told Bysiewicz, “I served with plenty of strong, capable women.”

Bysiewicz said she would work with Curley to identify women from Portland who are eligible for the recognition.

Seven women are listed on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington as having been killed in the war.

Gagne was surrounded by three generations of strong, capable women during the ceremony — his wife Donna, his daughter Michelle Ceppaglia, and Michelle’s daughter (and Gagne’s grand-daughter) Sydney.

Michelle Ceppaglia is the executive secretary for the first selectman.

Gagne admitted he was somewhat surprised by the decision to present the veterans with their certificates now.

“It’s been a little bit of time.” Still, he said, “It was very nice.”

William B. Barrows, who served in the Army, said he thought both the certificate and the ceremony were very nice.

“It puts people together. And, it’s nice to be recognized,” Barrows said.

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