Max Schuermann former member of the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing division at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in Vietnam, led the informal ceremony Saturday, which took place at the Col. Leo Sidney Boston War Memorial Park at the Fremont County Airport.

As the National Anthem played, veterans, families and friends stood at attention, remembering those who served in Southeast Asia, followed by the reading of the names.

"We're here this afternoon to honor and remember the members of the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing who gave all," Schuermann said before reading each of the names on the wall.

Several of them took turns remembering their friends, who lost their lives in Vietnam following the informal ceremony. They remained quiet as they listened to "Taps," playing in the distance, but smiled when the Air Force song was played.

During the event, Wilbur Anderson reminisced about flying an F4 in Vietnam.

"We came back from a mission and we always called in to mobile control," he said.

There had been a heavy rain so when the wing commander answered, Anderson thought it had to be really bad.

The wing commander told him the runway was slick and to go to the end of the runway, use the drag shoot and jump on the brakes. Anderson had to fly the plane down and stop it in time to slow him down.

"I did that, but I was about 4 feet in the air," Anderson said. "I rolled out and I got the tailhook down to keep from going off the runway."

Right behind him, the pilot didn't put his tail hook down and slid off the end of the runway.

"We hauled off endless planes at the end of the runway," Rust said.

The 12th TFW History Project, Inc., began in 1996 after the men spent years searching for an F-4 Phantom fighter jet as the center of a memorial for the unit.

"Ron (Doughty) is a member of the Phantom Society, who are a group of people," Rust said. "He got a copy of a newsletter called 'Smoke Trails,' which had a picture of this airplane (at the airport) setting at the munitions training center in Denver."

By that time, the jet had been donated to Fremont County. Rust, of Arvada drove down to the Fremont County Airport, where he saw the jet on display. He contacted former county commissioners Jim Schauer, Joe Rall and Keith McNew, H. Ray Jones and other community members, who agreed to set aside "this particular panel next to the jet," Rust said.

In addition, Ron Packard, a native of Canon City, who had died in Vietnam, had been a member of the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing.

The original dedication of the panel took place on Sept. 16, 2001, immediately following the 9/11 attack.

"I came four days after 9/11 and we had a heck of a time getting here," Anderson said.

He vowed the terrorists would not stop him from attending the dedication.

"I come to honor the 12th. You can't separate the two," Anderson said. "These guys are my buddies."

Ronald H. Doughty, Air Force retired and former member of the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing division at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base in Vietnam, arrived in town on Sunday, after having a stent put in his heart in Fort Hays, Kan., but he didn't let it deter him from coming to the annual reunion of the 12th Tactical Wing Fighter group.

Charlotte Burrous can be reached at cburrous@ccdailyrecord.com