OGDEN — Dennis Howland says it was his father, Oliver Howland, who inspired him to join the Marines.

“My dad was a World War II veteran and we were always a military family,” says Howland, who grew up in Iowa. “We weren’t pressured or forced to join the military, but I always knew I would. My dad used to always say, ‘Everything is going to be alright as long as that flag is still waving.’ I firmly believed that and I wanted to do my part to ‘keep that flag waving.'”

So Howland joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating high school. He served 17 months in Vietnam from 1966 through 1967. He flew in helicopters, pounded the ground and saw more than his fair share of death. He says the less-than-enthusiastic reception he and his fellow Vietnam veterans received upon returning home had a deep and profound impact on him.

“When people like my dad came home, they were treated as heroes — and rightly so,” Howland says. “But Vietnam wasn’t the same. There were people that turned their backs on us. It may have been an unpopular war, but we didn’t deserve that.”

The United States was involved in Vietnam for two decades, from Nov. 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 9 million Americans served in the armed forces during that 20-year period and more than 7 million are still living today. According to the National Archives and Records Administration, 58,220 U.S. soldiers were killed during the Vietnam War. Those deaths include 361 Utahns.

Howland retired from active-duty service after eight years, but has never stopped being a Marine.

He’s spearheaded five different pieces of legislation in Utah to honor Vietnam veterans, including the designation of Vietnam Veterans Day and renaming a portion of Interstate 15 as the Veterans Memorial Highway. Howland worked to establish a Vietnam Veterans of America office in Utah, and he was the main cog in partnering with Layton City to raise funds and build a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

Approximately 80% the size of the original national Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C., the replica wall sits in the northeast corner of Layton Commons Park, 437 N. Wasatch Drive. Like the wall in Washington, the 360-foot long Davis County memorial features the names (etched in stone) of all 58,000-plus Americans who died fighting in Vietnam.

Howland is also chief organizer of the Northern Utah Veterans Parade in November, helps with the Wreaths Across America program in December, and serves on honor guards at veterans’ funerals. He also serves on the Utah Veterans and Military Affairs Commission, the Utah World War II Commission, and the Weber County Veterans Advisory Council, and he served on advisory committees during the effort to build the George E. Wahlen Veterans Nursing Home in Ogden.

“Dennis is a transplant — he’s not originally from Utah,” said Tom Montez, a lifelong Ogden resident and fellow Vietnam veteran who served in the Army. “But I’ll tell you what, we’re sure glad he came here. He’s what you call a lantern. He’s been a guy who has made it his mission to highlight Vietnam veterans. And the word ‘discouragement’ is not in his vocabulary.”

While Howland is well-known among local and national lawmakers, veterans and other members of the Northern Utah, he remains humble about his work to honor veterans.

“It all goes back to some of those things I saw when I got back from Vietnam,” Howland said. “I made myself a promise … that no matter what kind of reception we got, I would always do my best to make sure the veterans were honored the way they should be. I’ve always told my wife, when I die, the only thing I want on my stone is ‘Marine who kept his word.'”