Vietnam Veterans Day

Proclamation 8789 of March 29, 2012

Vietnam Veterans Day

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

On January 12, 1962, United States Army pilots lifted
more than 1,000 South Vietnamese service members over
jungle and underbrush to capture a National Liberation
Front stronghold near Saigon. Operation Chopper marked
America's first combat mission against the Viet Cong,
and the beginning of one of our longest and most
challenging wars. Through more than a decade of
conflict that tested the fabric of our Nation, the
service of our men and women in uniform stood true.
Fifty years after that fateful mission, we honor the
more than 3 million Americans who served, we pay
tribute to those we have laid to rest, and we reaffirm
our dedication to showing a generation of veterans the
respect and support of a grateful Nation.

The Vietnam War is a story of service members of
different backgrounds, colors, and creeds who came
together to complete a daunting mission. It is a story
of Americans from every corner of our Nation who left
the warmth of family to serve the country they loved.
It is a story of patriots who braved the line of fire,
who cast themselves into harm's way to save a friend,
who fought hour after hour, day after day to preserve
the liberties we hold dear. From Ia Drang to Hue, they
won every major battle of the war and upheld the
highest traditions of our Armed Forces.

Eleven years of combat left their imprint on a
generation. Thousands returned home bearing shrapnel
and scars; still more were burdened by the invisible
wounds of post-traumatic stress, of Agent Orange, of
memories that would never fade. More than 58,000 laid
down their lives in service to our Nation. Now and
forever, their names are etched into two faces of black
granite, a lasting memorial to those who bore
conflict's greatest cost.

Our veterans answered our country's call and served
with honor, and on March 29, 1973, the last of our
troops left Vietnam. Yet, in one of the war's most
profound tragedies, many of these men and women came
home to be shunned or neglected--to face treatment
unbefitting their courage and a welcome unworthy of
their example. We must never let this happen again.
Today, we reaffirm one of our most fundamental
obligations: to show all who have worn the uniform of
the United States the respect and dignity they deserve,
and to honor their sacrifice by serving them as well as
they served us. Half a century after those helicopters
swept off the ground and into the annals of history, we
pay tribute to the fallen, the missing, the wounded,
the millions who served, and the millions more who
awaited their return. Our Nation stands stronger for
their service, and on Vietnam Veterans Day, we honor
their proud legacy with our deepest gratitude.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by virtue of the authority
vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the
United States, do hereby proclaim March 29, 2012, as
Vietnam Veterans Day. I call upon all Americans to
observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies,
and activities that commemorate the 50-year anniversary
of the Vietnam War.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.