Yesterday, Saturday March 29 was a day of remembrance for our veterans from the Vietnam War…
By C. Todd Lopez, DOD News
At the Vietnam Veterans Memorial today in Washington, the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs marked the ninth commemoration of National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
The annual commemoration is held on March 29 each year to mark the day U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disestablished in 1975. That same day was when the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam.
During his first term in office, President Donald J. Trump signed into law the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, which established National Vietnam War Veterans Day as a day of recognition in the United States.
“We’re here to pay tribute to the 58,281 names who are engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial behind me and also to solemnly honor their families,” said retired Army Maj. Gen. Edward J. Chrystal, who leads the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. “We [also] pay tribute to the some 1,500 service members and families of those service members who are still unaccounted for.
“Finally, we’re here today to salute our Vietnam veterans, those still with us, those who have passed and also to their family members, some who are with us today,” Chrystal said. “We thank and honor today all who served and sacrificed during the Vietnam War.”
The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration, led by Chrystal, stood up in 2012 as a national commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The commemorative period officially ends this year, Nov. 11, 2025, on Veterans Day, to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. The commemoration was meant to recognize, thank and honor U.S. military veterans who served during the Vietnam War.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins recognized how America had initially failed its veterans when they returned home from Vietnam. He promised that would never happen again.
“You did not come home to a nation that was thankful, but the nation has been reminded of that error,” Collins said. “As we look forward today, you taught us that we should never again let the politics of war interfere with our duty and our honor that we give to our veterans. We can do better, and we will not fail you again.”
As part of the event, Chrystal, Collins and Fern Sumpter Bush, the principal deputy director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, laid a wreath together at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That wreath was dedicated to National Vietnam War Veterans Day. A second wreath was laid at the memorial in honor of warfighters, and a third to honor their families.