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The Phoenix VA Health Care System honored more than 300 Vietnam Veterans in a recognition and pinning ceremony at Steele Indian School Park Memorial Hall, March 13. “Today our healthcare
system serves 140,000 Veterans, with about 24,000 of them having served in Vietnam,” said Phoenix VA Medical Center Director Bryan Matthews. The United States of America Vietnam War
Commemoration—a national 50th anniversary commemoration, was authorized by Congress, established under the secretary of defense, and launched by President Barack Obama in 2012. Congress
penned a total of five objectives, with the primary being to thank and honor our Vietnam Veterans and their families, for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the nation. Thousands of
organizations have joined the mission of honoring millions of Vietnam Veterans worldwide and the families of all who served. Publicly and individually, Vietnam Veterans are presented with a
Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pin as a lasting memento of the nation's thanks. 2025 marks the final year of the 50th Commemoration. U.S. Army Special Forces Vietnam Combat Veteran and Phoenix
VA Keynote Speaker David Lucier read inserts from “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. “They carried malaria, dysentery, lice, ringworm, leeches, various rots and molds, the land
itself, pictures of loved ones, memories, and their own lives,” read Lucier as he spoke on the physical and emotional burdens Vietnam Veteran soldiers carried, both tangible and intangible.
The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration makes no distinction between Veterans who served in-country, in-theater, or those who were stationed elsewhere during the Vietnam War
period. Today, there are approximately 7 million --6.7 million men and nearly 300 thousand women--living in America and abroad, who served from November 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975. “I am an
American fighting man; I serve in the forces which govern my country and our way of life. I am willing to give my life in their defense. This is what we promise, and this is who we are,”
said Lucier to the Veterans in the audience as he recalled his and countless other Vietnam Veterans’ experience. By Presidential Proclamation, the U.S.A. Vietnam War Commemoration will
continue through Veterans Day, November 11, 2025.
