National Vietnam Veterans Day is celebrated on March 29. It is a day for Americans to honor the courage and sacrifice of those who served in the Vietnam War. This was established as an observance when the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act was signed into law in 2017. This date was chosen because the last American to depart Vietnam was on March 29, 1973.
According to the Vietnam Veterans of America, around 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam. Approximately, one out of ten veterans were casualties and 75,000 were severely disabled. In total, 58,220 American service members were killed during the Vietnam War.
For the Veterans’ Oral Project at the Yonkers Public Library, we had the honor of interviewing Vietnam War veterans. You can listen to these interviews on the Yonkers Public Library digital archive. Additionally, there are records of Yonkers residents who were casualties during the conflict.
Two books about the Vietnam War that I recommend reading are What It Is Like Going to War and Mattherhorn. The author for both books is Karl Marlantes who is a Vietnam veteran that served with the United States Marine Corps.
Michael Walsh is an Adult Service Librarian at the Will Library. He is currently reading Spearhead by Adam Makos.