Today, the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is honoring all Pennsylvanians who served in the Vietnam War as part of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The DMVA is an official partner of the Department of Defense’s Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War.
“A little over 2 million Americans served in uniform in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. This is a day set aside to publicly thank, honor and support our Vietnam veterans and their families for their incredible service and sacrifice,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Schindler, Pennsylvania’s adjutant general and head of the DMVA. “Today, we need to take time out of our own lives to remember theirs – those who have fallen, and those who are our neighbors, relatives or community members. We want every Vietnam veteran to know just how much their bravery and sacrifices are appreciated – not just on March 29, but every day of the year.”
The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 permanently designates that every year, March 29 will be celebrated as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. It was on March 29, 1973, when combat and combat support units withdrew from South Vietnam.
In 2019, the last one of the 3,150 photos of Pennsylvanians who died in the Vietnam War was found and posted on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s virtual Wall of Faces. For four years, the DMVA partnered with the VVMF in Washington, D.C. to find a photo of every Pennsylvanian whose name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, commonly referred to as The Wall.
The VVMF has been posting the photos on the virtual Wall of Faces in order to put a face and a story to every name, allowing these Vietnam veterans to be honored by family, friends and others from around the world. Nationally, fewer than 80 photos are needed to complete the Wall of Faces. More information is available here.
Visit vvmf.org/Wall-Of-Faces to view the virtual Wall of Faces.
