WASHINGTON – For the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and for our nation, National Vietnam War Veterans Day is an important one. Made official through the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, on March 29 we pay tribute to our Vietnam War veterans’ unwavering courage, dedication and the countless sacrifices made by them and their families during one of the most challenging conflicts in our nation’s history.
We must not only remain dedicated to honoring and recognizing a generation of veterans to whom we owe so much, let us not forget there are some that haven’t made it back from where their nation sent them. From February 1961 – May 1975, more than 3.4 million Americans deployed in support of the U.S military operations in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. More than 58,000 gave their lives and according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), nearly 1,600 remain unaccounted for.
Experts at DPAA are in a race against time as the elements, soil acidity and the local population’s fading recollections make the task of finding and identifying the remains of those missing more challenging as the years go by. Because of this, the VFW is steadfast in our support of DPAA’s full accounting mission. We will keep the POW/MIA flag flying high and keep the candle lit for their return.
For too long, those who returned home from Vietnam did not receive the welcome or recognition they deserved. The VFW stands firm in our commitment to ensuring that every Vietnam veteran knows their service was honorable, their sacrifices were not in vain, and that they are forever respected and remembered.
On this solemn day, the VFW urges all Americans to take a moment to express their gratitude to Vietnam veterans, to recognize their service, and to remember those who never made it home. To all Vietnam veterans, on behalf of the more than 1.4 million members of the VFW and its Auxiliary, we reaffirm our enduring promise: We will never forget. We will never stop searching. And we will always honor and welcome home those who served.