MIDLAND, Texas —
The Midland Vet Center hosted a Vietnam War Commemoration ceremony Monday at the Permian Basin Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The event featured a pinning ceremony honoring Vietnam War veterans and their surviving spouses.
It occurred on National Vietnam War Veterans Day and within the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War commemoration period. The commemorative period, which was set in place by a presidential proclamation, launched in 2012 and will end on Veterans Day in 2025.
“As authorized by Congress and on behalf of the nation, we are doing what should have been done 50 years ago: thanking and honoring our Vietnam veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice just as America did for the veterans of World War II and Korea,” LeAnne Thornton, Midland Vet Center Veterans Outreach specialist said in a press release.
Nine million Americans served during the Vietnam War period and more than six million are living today, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.