VVA state councils, chapters, and members commemorated National Vietnam War Veterans Day throughout the country with ceremonies, celebrations, and other public commemorations. What follows are details on some of them.

Elmira, New York, Chapter 803 held its National Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremony at Woodlawn National Cemetery and Eldridge Park in Elmira on March 28 and March 29. The two commemorations, which included wreath-layings, were designed “to honor the valor, glory and courage of those who stepped up,” and served during the Vietnam War, said Chapter President Larry Sherman. “We pledge to them through you that their sacrifices will be remembered, and to honor them we will work diligently for peace so that our children may know a world without war,” said chapter Chaplain Joe Kopacz.

Gerald “Ziggy” Ayotte, the finance officer of Hermansville, Michigan, Thomas St. Onge Chapter 571 and a founder of the chapter’s Thomas St. Onge Vietnam Museum, spoke to students at several local schools in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day during the week of the commemoration.

Tampa, Florida, Chapter 787, along with the Veterans Council of Hillsborough County, hosted a Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans and War Dogs Event on March 29 at Veterans Memorial Park and Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins, Jr. Veterans Museum. The event honored Vietnam War veterans and canines who served in the war and included tributes to local veteran inductees into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame, a commemorative lapel pinning, and opportunities for veterans to get help with VA claims.

Bay Area, California, Chapter 400, in partnership with the Alameda County Veterans Affairs Commission, hosted a Vietnam War Veterans Day event on March 29 at the U.S.S. Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum in Alameda. The museum waived its admissions fee for veterans and active-duty personnel for the event, and the Hornet Memorial Squadron conducted a flyover of the ship to honor Vietnam War veterans.

Enterprise, Alabama, Chapter 383 and Montgomery, Alabama, Chapter 807 sponsored a 50th Anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War event on March 29 at the Enterprise Civic Center/Dale County Agricultural Complex that included a luncheon and wreath laying.

Lonnie Pizza/Chapter 980

Louisville, Kentucky, Kentuckiana Chapter 454, in partnership with the Louisville Vet Center, held a Vietnam Veterans Day Celebration at Veterans Memorial Park’s Tri An Monument in Jeffersontown, Ky. The guest speaker was Heather French Henry, the former Miss America and the daughter of a Vietnam War veteran who has been a long-time veterans advocate.

San Mateo, California, Steven Warren Memorial Chapter 464, co-sponsored the 8th annual Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Car Show fundraiser and Barbeque March 29 in Redwood City, in cooperation with TPS Motorsports. Awards were given including Best in Show, People’s Choice, and the Car Club Award, which went to the club with the most registered vehicles.

Oahu, Hawaii, Chapter 858 sponsored a National Vietnam War Veterans Day Ceremony, working with the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet on March 29 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl) in Honolulu. The following day, chapter members took part in a big Vietnam War Veterans Day Parade in Waikiki along with marching bands, military units, and community groups from Hawaii and the mainland.

Members of Scott County, Iowa, Gateway Chapter 776 took part in the Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremonies at Rock Island National Cemetery at Rock Island Arsenal on March 29. Chapter Vice President John Lavelle gave the Keynote speech. Vietnam War veterans’ legacy “is our stories,” Lavelle said. “Veterans need to talk about those things. People need to know what we went through.”

Members of Clinton Township, Michigan, Chapter 154 took part in a Vietnam War 50th Anniversary Commemoration event on Vietnam War Veterans Day at a local VFW post that included food, drinks, and music. Southgate, Michigan, Downriver Chapter 259 co-hosted a Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Day ceremony on March 29 at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Wyandotte, Michigan, which honors the twelve men from Wyandotte who died in the war.

Photo courtesy Cliff Rapp

Reno, Nevada, Sierra Nevada Chapter 989 sponsored its annual Vietnam Veterans Remembrance commemoration on March 29 at Truckee Meadows Community College. The theme this year was Honor and Sacrifice, and the event was conducted by veterans of the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as by Gold Star families. Col. Jackson T. Doan, the commanding officer of the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, was the featured speaker.

Nacogdoches, Texas, Pineywoods Chapter 931 held its seventh annual Vietnam War Veterans Day program at the Nacogdoches Public Library. “It is important to recognize” all Vietnam War veterans, no matter where they served around the world, chapter President George Lowery said during his presentation. “It took all of us to take care of that.”

New Hampshire Chapter 41 co-hosted a Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremony at the state Veterans Home in Tilton, N.H., with Service Credit Union, during which the facility’s residents and staff honored Vietnam War veterans.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, Chapter 203 held its annual Vietnam War Recognition Day commemoration on March 29, serving food and soft drinks to all Vietnam War veterans and their spouses in the parking lot of a local Walmart.

America Rose Capital Chapter 932 in Tyler, Texas, in cooperation with the University of Texas at Tyler History Department and other local VSOs, sponsored three events honoring Vietnam War veterans in March: Military Appreciation Day on March 22 at a UT Tyler baseball game; a screening and discussion of the Vietnam War film We Were Soldiers at the University’s Mabry Theater on March 26; and a Welcome Home luncheon on Vietnam War Veterans Day at the UT Tyler’s Patriot Plaza.

San Gabriel Valley, California, Chapter 446, together with a local Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter, co-hosted the Pasadena Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day Commemoration on March 30 at Memorial Park in Old Pasadena. The town’s mayor, William Paparian, a Marine Corps Vietnam War veteran, addressed the attendees, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the black granite Pasadena Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Dirk Young, the California State Council and Chapter 446 Chaplain, delivered the invocation and benediction.

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