upporters across the nation are honoring Vietnam Veterans on the annual Vietnam Veterans Day, held on March 29 each year.
The war in Vietnam ended in 1975.
The Vietnam war resulted in devastating casualties to the United States and Vietnam itself.
[The] United States casualty toll is 58,200 with 300,000 wounded. South Vietnam is said to have suffered up to 400,000 civilian casualties, up to 220,000 military casualties, and over 1 million wounded. North Vietnam’s casualty toll is 50,000 civilians, up to 1 million military casualties, and over 500,00 wounded.
Al Hancock, a Vietnam veteran who is retired from the U.S. Air Force, spoke to Bluefield City Council [in West Virginia] Thursday.
“I remind you that tomorrow, March 29, is Vietnam Veterans Day,” he said. “It’s a day we celebrate all over the United States. A lot of our veterans I served with never made it back and that bothers me.”
Hancock has been working for veterans rights since he retired in 1980 to make sure they receive the benefits and help they deserve.
“It has taken me 25 years to get medical service for veterans in Mercer County,” he said of the VA clinic in Princeton that he spearheaded.
Hancock said as of 2000, about 800,000 Vietnam-era veterans had died.
He also said he has visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. six times, a monument that has more than 58,000 names on it.
Ultimately the main causation of the war was the conflict between North and South Vietnam political systems, with North Vietnam embracing communism and the threat of it spreading to South Vietnam.
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, or SEATO, was the treaty signed in 1954 which sought to prevent communism.
Men and women who served in Vietnam can find camaraderie and support in their fellow veterans and the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 628, located on Mercer Street in Princeton.
According to the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 628’s website, those who served in Vietnam between February 28, 1961 — May 7, 1975, or those who served in any position of duty between August 5, 1964 — May 7, 1975, are welcomed.
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© 2019 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.)
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