Welcome Home Vietnam War Veterans

Today, on National Vietnam War Veterans Day, we honor all those who bravely served in the Vietnam War and who sacrificed, as did their families and caregivers, on behalf of our Nation.

For almost two decades, Americans raised their right hands and committed to serve and defend our Constitution as uniformed members of the United States Armed Forces during a tumultuous period in our country’s history. Throughout the years of the Vietnam War, 9 million Americans earned the title of United States veteran, including an estimated 120,000 Coloradans. Today and every day, we honor their bravery and commitment and give thanks to a generation of Americans who valiantly fought in service of the country they love while recognizing the continuing impact on so many veterans of the Vietnam conflict, along with their families, caregivers, and survivors. We will always remember those we lost and honor those who came home.

In 2012, our Nation launched a 13-year long commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War to ensure that every Veteran, family, caregiver, and survivor impacted by the difficult years in Vietnam feels our Nation’s gratitude for their sacrifice. Every service member of the Vietnam generation should know that their sacrifices mattered and that their service made a difference. The names etched in The Wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial remind us of our loved ones who gave their all and never came home. To the families, caregivers, and survivors of the more than 58,000 service members whose names are memorialized in the black granite, we pledge to never forget the eternal sacrifice of your loved ones and what you have sacrificed for the Nation.

To the families of the over 1,500 service members who remain missing and unaccounted for, know that our Nation’s efforts to bring them home will never stop.

We pledge our steadfast care and support to our Vietnam Veterans, as we do for all of our Veterans. We will honor our sacred obligation to you and your family.

We honor their service and all that you have done for our Nation.