DeSales Honors Vietnam Veterans During Special Commemoration Ceremony
Fifty years ago, Ralph Galati was stripped of every freedom he had ever known.
As a captain in the United States Air Force, Galati flew 68 combat missions before being shot down over North Vietnam in February 1972. He spent the next 14 months as a prisoner of war.
“When you have absolutely nothing and you have lost absolutely everything, then you begin to imagine and really fully appreciate what freedom really means,” he said. “It’s no longer something you can be complacent about.”
Galati shared his story with fellow veterans and their families during a special Vietnam War Commemoration Ceremony in the DeSales University Center. He described his time as a POW as an endurance test and recounted begging for scraps of food and water. He and his fellow POWs would resist their captors and keep themselves going by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem and holding secret religious services.
“From my own experience, I can tell you that we were tested with physical and emotional experiences on a daily basis — it could be fear or punishment, loneliness, starvation, boredom,” Galati said. “However, one thing we never felt was abandoned. ... And today’s ceremony is a vivid reminder of our commitment to remember and honor veterans, especially Vietnam veterans.”
The event’s second keynote speaker, David Binder, joined the Navy after graduating from William Allen High School, serving as an electronic technician specializing in radar. He sailed more than 200,000 nautical miles and served two combat tours in Vietnam.
“While serving in Vietnam, I always kept a small American flag on me, folded in my pocket, just in case,” Binder said as he retrieved the flag and held it up for the audience. “We fought in our dungarees; we didn’t really have name tags on us except for dog tags. If I were to go, I wanted this on me.”
Binder also shared stories about serving over the holidays. Morale was low during his first Christmas overseas, so he decided to build a makeshift Christmas tree out of old charts. His crew also received care packages filled with cookies and candy from families back home. Binder grabbed one of the plastic bags and reached inside to find a small note from a stranger.
“I opened that note and it said, ‘We know you are there,’ Binder said. “Those simple words had a huge impact. Being recognized in such a small but significant way made the hardship of war easier not only on that Christmas but the following Christmas as well.”
After Binder’s remarks, the Johnny Rivers VFW Post 11322, Quakertown, invited Galati to help unveil the POW-MIA Chair of Honor that it generously donated to DeSales. The chair is to remain perpetually empty to help people remember that even though our soldiers are not here, there is always space for them.
All Vietnam veterans in attendance were also recognized with a special lapel pin. Cadet William Suter, a DeSales student and member of the Steel Battalion ROTC, received the Military Order of the Purple Heart Award for his exemplary leadership.
The DeSales Office of Veterans and Military Services held the commemoration ceremony in recognition of the fifth anniversary of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey, a Lehigh Valley native, sponsored the legislation in 2017.