National Vietnam War Veterans Day

National Vietnam War Veterans Day, observed March 29th, honors the roughly 9 million American men and women who served in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War era. The date marks the anniversary of March 29, 1973, when the last U.S. combat troops withdrew from South Vietnam and remaining American prisoners of war held by North Vietnam were released, following the January 1973 Paris Peace Accords that formally ended direct U.S. military involvement in the conflict. Congress officially established the observance through the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, signed into law in 2017, decades after the war's end, reflecting a long-running effort to formally honor Vietnam veterans, many of whom faced a notably difficult and unwelcoming homecoming reception in the 1960s and 1970s compared to veterans of other American conflicts, an experience later widely acknowledged as a national shortcoming that subsequent generations have worked to address through observances like this one. The Vietnam War remains one of the most significant and divisive conflicts in modern American history, and the national day is intended both to honor veterans' service and sacrifice directly and to encourage broader public reflection on the war's lasting impact on American society and foreign policy. On National Vietnam War Veterans Day, communities across the country mark the occasion with ceremonies, memorial visits, and expressions of gratitude toward Vietnam veterans.