(Richmond, Va.) Friday, March 29, 2024 is National Vietnam War Veterans Day and the Virginia War Memorial will hold a special Open House from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to honor and recognize the service and sacrifice of Virginia’s Vietnam-era military veterans.
The Open House will include the opportunity to visit the “50 Years Beyond: The Vietnam Veteran Experience” exhibit, which will close on April 11, 2024. There will be continuous showing of the Memorial’s award-winning “Virginians At War” documentary films about the Vietnam War in the Reynolds Theater and docent-led tours of the inspiring Shrine of Memory – 20th Century where the panels listing the Virginia men and women killed in action during the Vietnam War are engraved.
Special 50th Anniversary Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pins will be presented to all Vietnam veterans who have not yet received one. All veterans who served in the United States Armed Forces at any time between November 1, 1955, and May 15, 1975, anywhere in the world, are eligible to receive one Vietnam Veteran Lapel Pin.
This is the seventh consecutive year that the Commonwealth and the Virginia War Memorial will commemorate National Vietnam War Veteran Day. Admission and parking are free at the Memorial and the public is invited and encouraged to attend the Open House event. The Memorial is located at 621 South Belvidere Street, Richmond, Virginia 23220.
“Virginia is proudly home to nearly 700,000 military veterans – one of the largest numbers of veterans per population size of any state – and of these, more than 200,000 served during the Vietnam War era,” said Chuck Zingler, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS). “More than 1,300 Virginians gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving and another 46 remain classified as Missing in Action (MIA). Nine Virginians received the Nation’s highest military award, the Congressional Medal of Honor, for their heroic actions serving in the Vietnam War.”
“It is especially important that all Virginians join together to take time on National Vietnam Veterans Day to thank our fellow citizens, neighbors and family members who answered the call to serve our Nation and too often never received the thanks and appreciation they deserved when they returned home,” Commissioner Ziegler added.
For more information about the National Vietnam War Veterans Day Open House and other events at the Virginia War Memorial, please visit www.vawarmemorial.org, www.dvs.virginia.gov or call 804.786.2060.
