The Elgin veterans auxiliaries reminder the public to ‘Join the Nation … thank a Vietnam veteran!’ As the Nation prepares to observe the 50th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam Conflict, now is the perfect time to reflect on the veterans and their families.
The four million who served between November 1, 1955 and May 15, 1975, and their families, have been publicly thanked by friends and neighbors during more than 28,000 ceremonies hosted by our Commemorative Partners … but there is still more to do! Vietnam veterans deserve to know their service mattered. They deserve to know you care. The Nation owes them our deepest gratitude.
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Lasting from 1955 to 1975, the Vietnam war engulfed the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam as well as its neighboring countries, Cambodia and Laos. It resulted in several million deaths, most of whom were Vietnamese civilians.
The conflict began during the 1950s when the struggle between the country’s communist northern part and the anti-communist south escalated. The United States began its military involvement in an effort to back the South’s effort to quell the communist onslaught, which, at the height of the Cold War, was feared to promote the spread of communist ideology and influence worldwide. During the war, about 500,000 US troops were dispatched to Southeast Asia, about 58,000 of whom were killed.
The conflict ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon and the victory of North Vietnam.
National Vietnam War Veterans Day was first observed in 2012. The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 establishes the day as a national observance. However, it is not an official holiday in any part of the United States. Every March 29th, this prominent day joins six other military-centric national observances.
