TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough County will honor Vietnam veterans with a special “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans and War Dogs” remembrance ceremony.

The event happens Thursday at 10 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park & Museum at 3602 US Hwy 301.

Retired Army Colonel Rolfe Arnhym will emcee the event.

He is a graduate of West Point and served to two tours in Vietnam.

“Coming out of Vietnam I didn’t have the luxury of being bitter about it,” said 93-year-old Arnhym. “I didn’t have the luxury of doing anything but, ‘OK what’s next?’  

“What do I have to do to be a better man.”

Arnhym says he doesn’t remember much of his service in Vietnam, but he does remember his not-so-friendly welcome home.

He said soldiers were yelled at and even spit on minutes after arriving back in the U.S.

Since his time in the military, Arnyhm has been involved in everything from sports and politics, to authoring a book and even surviving prostate cancer.

He still works to this day, as a consultant for Vistage, working with CEOs on leadership skills.

If there is one message Arnhym says he wants to deliver today, it’s that he no longer needs an apology or a thank you for your service, but he would like people to volunteer in the community.

“I would say to the protestors and those that got in our way that we need an apology,” he said. “And better than an apology, if they can’t see themselves doing it, they can continue to serve by going out to the VA and helping those that came back from Afghanistan and Iraq that are at the VA hospitals.”