ii. when those heroes came home, local communities gave those heroes well-deserved parades it got me thinking about how important it is that we celebrate our military, tell them we appreciate them. and so over the fourth of july, i had a chance, i was part of the welcome ceremony for wounded vets and their spouses in ports as worth, alaska. they were a operation heal our patriots a samaritan s purse program spearheaded by reverend franklin graham. i think the word fun needs to be there too. when they get off the plane and the whole community comes out and they have got their flags and they are waving their flags welcoming these couples. many of the couples have told us when they came home they were on an ambulance flight. they went to germany and then they came to walter reid. they didn t have a parade or welcome party. this, for many of them is, kind of a welcome home ceremony that they didn t
trashed. i was ostracized and spit on beat on. and employers wouldn t hire me. i wanted to be welcomed home. i didn t get that when i came home. let s make some noiz today. reporter: hundreds of vietnam veterans from all over the southeast gathered at fort stewart for the home coming they never had. is this the kind of thing you think that helps some veterans feel like they are finally appreciated for what they did? i don t think people realized the depth of feeling that those soldiers and sailors and airmen and marines from vietnam feel. reporter: more than 48,000 american troops died in the vietnam war and thousands of others have endured the physical an emotional scars for decades. for these veterans and families this welcome home ceremony runs far deeper than a belated thank you. it s long overdue. they deserve the rights to all
years after his release from a scottish prison. al megrahi was let go on compassionate grounds because he had prostate cancer. he was expect to live only a few months. at the time of his release, victims families were outraged after he received a hero s welcome in libya. they believe he was just a small player in the bomb plot. i spoke to a former spokesman for the victims families who lost a brother in the attack. i asked him when he heard about al megrahi s death. i received the phone call about 8:30 this morning. i m pleased he s finally left this earth. it was tempered because of, i was exhilarated when gadhafi was overthrown and killed last year. he was the big fish in ta that story. this is not the last chapter in pan am 103. he and other family members suspect there are people right now in libya, syria and iran who played a part in the bombing. and should be brought to justice. cnn s alison kosik is joining us now. i sat down with one of the victims of the bomb
as a child and see that special something she had in her, it was clear early on she had the special little pep in her step. reporter: the funeral plans are pending. many of the congregation are their going home ceremony would be here as well. back to you, jon. jon: lauren green, live for us in newark. lauren, thank you. jenna: a pair of victories in the maine caucuses and cpac straw poll for mitt romney. is it enough to ignite his campaign? we ll take a closer leak at that. plus overseas as well, riots in the streets of athens today. tens of thousands protesting severe budget cuts there why it could get even worse next. [shouting]
home and in bases. in the civilian world this has been no welcome home ceremony, no end of the iraq war celebration to say thank you to the troops to welcome them home and say we as a country were at war, a war that has ended. it was not just america s military at war. it was america. there s been no ticker tape, no marching band, no welcome home parade anywhere in civilian life. tomorrow, st. louis, missouri, changes that. st. louis becomes the first city to wave flags, float floats and bang drums to mark the end of the war and say welcome home. all because of two friends who decided if nobody else would hold the nation s first big welcome home for the troops for the end of the iraq war they would try to do it as citizens. they started a facebook page, collected donations, met with the may yoornd soon, voila, a parade. floats being built, signs painted, marching bands practicing routines. the anheiser-busch clydesdales are being harnessed.