Time: March 30, 2025, 10am - 12pm
Location: Union Church, Biddeford Pool (3 Stonecliff Rd., Biddeford)
Don’s talk, “A Marine Corps Pilot’s Perspective Amidst the Vietnam War,” will draw on his experiences to narrate how it was to serve there, followed by Q&A. David McLean, a bagpiper from Portland’s Claddagh Mhor Pipe Band, will play the traditional Amazing Grace and Going Home to honor the fallen. This date was chosen to be close to the date of the official withdrawal of American combat troops in Vietnam on March 29, 1973. Free of charge to attend; no RSVP required.
About Don Chretien: Biddeford native Don Chretien lived through the Vietnam War as a Marine helicopter pilot who flew 560 combat missions, came home to an indifferent or even hostile reception, and has lived to see a much more appreciative public now open to revisiting that collective experience. He will mark the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War by leading three events; each will focus on a different aspect of the war: how and why and when did it start? what was it like to serve there? and how and when did it end?