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Cheyenne Veterans Encourages Citizens to Say Welcome Home

It means something special for Vietnam-era Veterans

AARP

Published March 13, 2026

AARP

CHEYENNE — Welcome home.

Those are the two words Cheyenne resident and Vietnam veteran Jerry Harris is encouraging all Wyomingites to say to Vietnam-era veterans.

For Harris, his welcome home came 55 years after he arrived back in the US, fresh from two years in the Vietnam theater serving on a POW ship and later aboard a riverboat in what was known as the Brown water Navy.

In May of 2025, Harris and 14 other veterans went back to Washington, DC on a trip fulfilled through Wish of a Lifetime, from AARP that grants life-changing wishes to older adults and inspires people to redefine aging in America. The trip to DC involved time at the memorials and a meeting with the Wyoming Congressional delegation, but it was the welcome home rally in Cheyenne at the end of the trip taught Harris the importance of welcome home.

“We were never welcome home, just the opposite,” Harris says. “It means more to me and the guys I’ve talked to hear ‘welcome home, brother.’ I’m hopeful that throughout the days on this earth that I have left I can bring some of the joy that I felt when I came home from DC and not the hurt that I felt when I came home from Vietnam. That’s my goal.”

This year’s Wyoming Voyage of Valor will send 15 Wyoming veterans and their companion to Washington from April 6-11. While in Washington, DC, the veterans will tour the monuments and the US Capitol before returning home.

“Voyage of Valor is a journey created to recognize our veteran’ service, their sacrifice, and their story,” said Kristen Prusky of Wish of a Lifetime. “Together, we’ll walk a path of remembrance, connection, and celebration—because their legacy matters.”

2026 Welcome Home Rally

The Voyage of Valor comes to end in spectacular fashion with a welcome home rally scheduled from 10-11 a.m. on April 11 at the Lincoln Theater, located at 1615 Central Avenue in Cheyenne.

This is the public’s opportunity to welcome home the group of 15 Wyoming Vietnam Veterans from their five-day trip to Washington, DC. The event will begin with a brief 30-minute ceremony to honor and thank our veterans, followed by time to meet with them.

To some of the veterans taking part in the 2025 Voyage of Valor, the welcome home rally was the highlight of the trip, thanks to the outpouring of support from Cheyenne residents.

“They said ‘welcome home.’ That just got to me,” said Vietnam Veteran Billy Fiorelli after returning from the trip in 2025. “That hit me. Finally, we’re getting the recognition that we should’ve gotten years ago. It’s fantastic to be honored like this.”

For more information on the welcome home event, contact Jennifer Baier at jbaier@aarp.org.