NATCHEZ —  Vietnam veteran Doug McCallister didn’t expect to get choked up during Point Man International Ministries’ event honoring Vietnam veterans Saturday.

“That caught me unaware,” the event’s organizer said. “Vietnam means many things to someone who was there. One is that it made you look at reality real closely.

“For me personally, through the unmerited support of God, I am here to honor and admire the sacrifices by the more than 58,200 men and women who died,” he said. “I pray and honor them every day.”

Keynote speaker Navy Capt. Virgil Jackson, who served three tours in Vietnam, said the first time he was thanked for his service was following Operation Desert Storm.

The Natchez native said Desert Storm was a very different war compared to Vietnam, in that politics didn’t hold the military back.

“In 100 hours, we rolled through and won,” he said. “America likes a winner, and they thanked us.”

The soldiers on the ground never lost a battle during the Vietnam War, Jackson said, but the political constraints lost the war for the country. From where he was stationed on the U.S.S. Ranger Aircraft Carrier off the coast of North Vietnam, Jackson said he saw those constraints first hand.

“We could fly with impunity over the country until later when they got their missiles,” Jackson said. “We watched ship after ship go by, carrying weapons that were going south.”

Further, they were not allowed to bomb key targets like power plants.

“We could have brought that country down at any time,” Jackson said. “We knew about the casualties happening down south and we were upset about it.

“But we didn’t do anything about it. We did what we were told to do.”

Looking at the modern day conflict with ISIS, Jackson said he was afraid the country was making the same mistakes made in Vietnam.

“I thought we would never suffer through another containment war,” he said. “I thought we learned our lesson in Vietnam.

“ISIS is a close parallel to the Vietnam War except these people are more vicious. They are out to kill us.”

In line to receive his commemorative pin, James Sanders, who served in Vietnam with the Army, said the ceremony was a good one.

“We needed something like this 50 years ago,” Sanders said about when soldiers returned home.

Army Vietnam veteran Ben Tucker said soldiers who flew home half a century ago faced ridicule, not praise.

“The Vietnam veterans were spat upon,” he said. “And we know the plight that has come upon them since — homelessness and drug addiction.

“We let the veterans down, but now it is time for us to step up.”

Robert Bailey Sr. said he thinks the Vietnam veterans helped turn the situation around by supporting the future generation of soldiers.

“The guys today are welcomed home,” the Navy veteran said. “We were very outgoing in our support for other veterans.”

Bailey said he thought about future generations when he brought his grandchildren out to see the ceremony.

“Well, I am babysitting today,” he said. “But I thought they needed to learn about what a veteran is.”

McCallister said God had provided a beautiful day on Saturday to honor the Veterans.

“We got the veterans to perform the three ups,” he said. “They stood up to be identified. They stepped up to say they were proud to serve their country.

“And most importantly, they showed up to be honored.”