Last Updated on December 11, 2017 by cassnetwork
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly today announced he will host an event on March 29, 2018 in Indiana to recognize Hoosier Vietnam Veterans. U.S. Senator John McCain [R-Ariz.], Vietnam War Veteran, POW, and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, joined Donnelly to make the announcement.
Donnelly said, “Indiana is home to nearly 150,000 Vietnam War Veterans. On March 29, 2018, I’m hosting an event to recognize Vietnam Veterans from across our state and give them the welcome home with their families that they deserve and should have received when they returned home from serving our country.”
McCain said, “All of us are indebted to the generations of brave Americans who have sacrificed life and limb to preserve our freedom, which is why I’m grateful for Senator Donnelly’s bipartisan legislation with Senator Pat Toomey that officially designates March 29th as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.”
Bipartisan legislation authored by Donnelly and Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) permanently designating March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day was signed into law by President Trump in March of 2017. The inaugural National Vietnam Veterans Day was celebrated on March 29, 2017.
Further details on the 2018 National Vietnam Veterans Day event in Indiana will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
BACKGROUND:
- Permanently designates March 29th annually as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
- On March 29, 1973, the last combat troops were ordered out of Vietnam.
- While many troops remained behind before the fall of Saigon – March 29 holds great meaning for many Vietnam veterans.
- Includes March 29th as a day “the flag should be displayed.”
The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act was passed unanimously by both chambers of Congress.
SOURCE: News release from the Office of Senator Joe Donnelly