Cliff Riley has been named Vietnam Veterans of America Buckeye State Council's Veteran of the Year.
Riley, who is the current president of the Clermont County Veteran's Service Commission, said that he was deeply honored to be nominated and then to be chosen for such a distinctive honor.
"It was so surprising," he said in his Stonelick Township home Sept. 6. "And I am extremely honored."
Raised in the Newtonsville area, Riley, 62, enlisted in the military upon graduating from Clermont Northeastern High School in 1966, right after two of his close friends were drafted, because he wanted to "control his own destiny."
During the years of 1966-1968, Riley was deployed twice to the war zone to work as a wireman in charge of communications in South Vietnam, eventually attaining the rank of sergeant E-5.
Riley, who worked in the insurance industry upon returning to civilian life, said that looking back on his wartime experience, he would not have missed it for the world because he learned a lot.
The experience also changed him on a deeply personal level.
"Sometimes I get bitter and angry," he said. "I saw people living in squalor, in grass huts, no power, no running water, no sanitary conditions. I had never been to a third world country before and I realized very quickly that these people needed our help."
Their John Deere tractor was a water buffalo, Riley said.
The war dragged on and Riley was eventually sent back to the United States, only to be greeted by the protests against the Vietnam War, especially by students on college campuses across the country.
Arriving home, he was stationed in Missouri to train for riot control, eventually going to Wisconsin in 1967 to suppress one of those campus protests.
"That was a very confusing time," Riley recalls. "I thought 'Oh My God,' wait a minute. One day you are carrying an M-16 in Vietnam, then you come home to the country you fought for only to turn that M-16 on Americans. At that point, we did not know what we were fighting for."
Riley, who said that he was changed forever by his wartime experience, has now made peace with his memories by fighting for all veteran's rights, especially here in Clermont County.
Riley, who was nominated for the Veteran of the Year award by Clermont County Veteran's Service Director Dan Bare, has been an advocate for veteran's service for many years now, working with Clermont County Vietnam Veteran's of American Chapter 649.
"I would like to thank the many dedicated members of the local veterans support community who work tirelessly to ensure that their fellow vets and those currently deployed receive the assistance and recognition they deserve."
Two other members of Chapter 649, which was recently named chapter of the year, also received awards at the Buckeye State Council's annual convention and awards program held in Newark in June.
Chapter 649 Board Member Ron Miller received the presidential award and Diane Sears was named Associate of the year.
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