Joe Derocher of Lewiston, a combat engineer who served in Vietnam, holds his service dog, Cooper, on Thursday as he points to his father’s name engraved on a memorial stone at Veterans Memorial Park in Lewiston during a ceremony honoring Vietnam veterans. Derocher was telling Laurence Parks, right, of Sabattus, also a Vietnam veteran who served aboard an aircraft carrier, about his father who landed on Omaha Beach in the World War II D-Day invasion and was severely wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)

Vietnam veteran Laurence Parks, left, of Sabattus, talks with fellow Vietnam veteran Joe Derocher, right, of Sabattus, holding his service dog, Cooper, at Veterans Memorial Park in Lewiston on Thursday following a brief ceremony honoring Vietnam veterans. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)