RAMONA -- Two of Wally and Nathalie Green's four sons joined the military during the Vietnam War and were sent to southeast Asia to fight the Viet Cong. Only one came home.

On Saturday, a San Diego-based motorcycle club remembered the one who never made it back, Pfc. Thomas Green. He was lost over the waters of South Vietnam when the CH-47 helicopter he was aboard went down.

Gone, but never forgotten. That was the message delivered to the couple by more than three dozen members of the group known as the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club/Legacy Vets.

Flag-bearing club members paraded down Main Street until the procession ended at the Greens' home at 511 E St. Club members gathered in front of the house and presented a black POW-MIA flag to the couple, after members thanked them for their sacrifice.

"We just needed to let you know that your son is not forgotten," said club President Tejano, who declined to give his full name. "We're here because we don't forget our brothers who are still out there."

Club member Tony Fanning said the group decided to present the flag to the Greens after learning their son was one of only a few North County residents sent to Vietnam whose remains were never found.

Green's 81-year-old mother profusely thanked the veterans for their own war service and their gesture. She said her son was very patriotic and joined the U.S. Army right after high school.

"Tommy was a patriot who believed in what the country was doing," she said. "He was a really sweet kid and a wonderful guy."

Thomas Green graduated early from Ramona High School, earning enough credits to leave school in January 1971. He enlisted a short time later, and arrived in Vietnam in September of that year.

Five weeks later, on Oct. 26, Green, who had intended to become a helicopter mechanic but wound up as a door gunner, was reported missing.

He's now officially listed by the Library of Congress as one of the more than 58,000 Vietnam war casualties, after the Army determined the aircraft went down over the ocean. He would have turned 54 one week from today.

Green's older brother, David, served in the U.S. Air Force and got a job with the Postal Service in Ramona shortly after being discharged. He was the first to learn his sibling was missing, when an Army captain contacted him at work.

Nathalie Green said David came home and delivered the heart-wrenching news to the family.

One of Green's other brothers, Tim, said that each Memorial Day the family goes to the Ramona cemetery, where his fallen brother is remembered with a plaque.

"It's still really hard for me," said Tim, adding one of the ways he coped with his brother loss was to honor him in a poem.

Wally Green said it was a bit overwhelming to have his son remembered 35 years after he was reported missing in action. He thanked the veterans for their decision to honor him.

At one point, he retreated into the house and came back with a photograph of his son in his Army uniform. The portrait was passed from one club member to the next so each could see the young man they came to honor.

The Greens said they will hang the flag near their front porch as a reminder that many did not come home from Vietnam and were forever lost.

Despite their loss, Nathalie Green said, the couple believed in their son's sacrifice, even with the eventual withdrawal of U.S. forces and the North Vietnamese victory.

"My son is with God today," she said.

Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.