On March 29, 50 years after the United States pulled members of its military services out of Vietnam, Father Ken Budzikowski stood in front of a full St. Cajetan Church and said, “Welcome home, Vietnam vets. Thank you for your service.”

St. Cajetan, 2445 W. 112th St., hosted a Mass March 29 in honor of Vietnam War Veterans Day, observed annually on the anniversary of the pullout from Vietnam, and blessed and distributed congressionally authorized lapel pins for Vietnam veterans and their families. The pins were supplied by the Mendel High School Alumni Association, which is among the organizations designated to distribute them.

Budzikowski said it was an honor for St. Cajetan to host the Mass and to show its gratitude to the veterans, many of whom returned to a country that did not appreciate their service.

“The truth is, you served your country, and the country didn’t return the favor with gratitude,” Budzikowski said. “You were the ones who were brave enough, even when you thought you couldn’t be any braver.”

Honoring the men and women who served is “a matter of justice,” he said. “When I heard about it, I said, ‘We’ve got to do this.’”

Budzikowski said he is old enough to have received a draft number when he was a seminary student, but by that time the war was winding down, and none of his class was drafted. But they waited and wondered whether they would be called upon, he said.

“It was imminent for all of us,” he said, adding that two of his cousins served in the military during the Vietnam era.

Overall, the Veterans Administration estimates than 9 million people served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War, which officially extended from 1965 to 1975. Of those, about 6 million are still alive.

Deacon Joe Roccasalva, who helped organize the Mass, said he received RSVPs from more than 100 Vietnam veterans from all over the Chicago area and beyond, with calls coming in from as far as New York and California.

Many came from St. Cajetan and from Christ the King, St. Barnabas and St. John Fisher parishes, partners with St. Cajetan in Southside Parish Renewal.

“We have a lot of vets in this area,” Roccasalva said.

“This area — Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Beverly — there are a lot of people here who appreciate service and people who serve,” Budzikowski said.

Veterans who filled the pews while waiting for the presentation of the colors by American Legion Post 854, which started the evening, said they were glad to — finally — feel appreciated.

“There wasn’t even a parade in Chicago [for Vietnam veterans] until 1986,” said Patrick Graber, who served from 1971 to 1976. “They never got the kinds of things other veterans got.”

Graber, who went to St. Barnabas School and St. Ignatius High School, said he also wanted to honor his son, a Marine gunnery sergeant who has deployed to “everywhere — several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan” and is now based on Okinawa.

Graber was sitting with Bob Burns, who served four years starting during the Vietnam era, but did not serve in Vietnam. He said he came in honor of his brother, a Marine who was wounded in Vietnam who is now in Florida. His brother attended St. Bede School and Mount Carmel High School.

Mike Dreznes of the Mendel Alumni Association spoke about what service members returning from Vietnam found when they landed in the United States: “A country torn apart by the war, protesters in the streets, some of whom would spit on your uniform, an economy sliding into recession, a VA system that was totally unprepared to meet the needs of the returning vets.”

Budzikowski said that in addition to the more than 58,000 U.S. service members killed, many came home with wounded bodies and minds.

“I hope most of you, if not all of you, came back and had a normal life,” he said. “But we know not all of you came back whole.”

Tom Matson, who lives in Alsip, came with his wife and family. He’s been sober for 23 years, he said, but for a long time, he drank too much because he wanted to forget what he had experienced.

“I was able to keep a job, but every night I was drinking,” said Matson, who was in Vietnam in 1971 and 1972. “And the VA — they didn’t want to hear about it.”

He’s not bitter about the way returning soldiers or other service members were treated, he said, because he thinks the country learned a lesson from it.

“The lesson is, no matter how unpopular a conflict becomes, they’ll never be treated like us when they come back.”