March 29 was declared Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day in 2012 for Americans to remember and thank those who served “in one of the most divisive conflicts in U.S. history.”

These Veterans served this country with honor and through no fault of their own, when they came home they never got the thank you they deserved, instead as a nation we acted dishonorable by not honoring their sacrifice.

Vietnam Veterans Day commemorates the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans and their families and is part of a national effort to recognize the men and women who were denied a proper welcome upon returning home more than 40 years ago.

Three_soldiers

On March 29, 1973, the last U.S. troops left Vietnam, ending 11 years of war and more than 58,00 Americans dead.

Thankfully attitudes have change, but we can only try to make up for the errors we made when these heroes came home:

On the anniversary of the day the last U.S. troops left Vietnam in 1973, lower Hudson Valley veterans who served there say there’s been an almost complete about face in public attitudes toward those who fought in the nation’s most unpopular war.

 

“We got no respect at all when we came home,” said Eugene Lang of Yorktown, an Army veteran and senior vice commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart’s Westchester/Putnam chapter. Lang, who was also attending Tuesday’s ceremony at the state senate, was inducted into the New York State Veterans Hall of Fame last year and earlier this month was honored by the Yorktown Central School District.

 

“Things are definitely different,” he said. “It’s amazing how people thank us for our service, now, or welcome us home.”

 


The Vietnam Memorial, built in 1982 and erected in 1984, includes the Vietnam Memorial Wall, The Three Servicemen and the Women’s Memorial statues.

The Wall stretches the eye towards the Washington Monument, in the east, and the Lincoln Memorial, to the west, putting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial into a historical context. Composed of 70 separate inscribed granite panels, each 40 inches in width. The Wall is 246.75 feet long and 10.1 feet high.

A total of 58,272 names are listed on the Memorial Wall. Approximately 1200 of them are listed as missing (MIA’s, POW’s, and others). The names are listed in chronological order, according to the casualty date, and alphabetized within each day.
May they all rest in peace, may God comfort their families and loved ones, and may their memories always be for a blessing.

 

Thank you Veterans of the Vietnam war, and all veterans. May God always bless you, and may the citizens of the United States always give you the honor you so richly deserve.

Note: Part of this post came from Constitution.com