Jesse Brown Veterans Health Care System hosted Welcome Home celebration
information provided by the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs
CHICAGO, Ill. (April 3, 2019) – Vietnam War Veterans were honored and thanked last week for their service during the March 29 Vietnam War Commemoration at the Jesse Brown Veterans Health Care System in Chicago. During the ceremony, Vietnam veterans were honored with a 50-year commemoration pin.
“The celebration is to thank and honor veterans of the Vietnam War—including personnel who were held as prisoners of war, or listed as missing in action—for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States, and to thank and honor the families of these veterans,” said IDVA Director Linda Chapa LaVia. “These veterans put their lives on the line for us. They deserve our recognition and respect for the sacrifices they undertook for our nation.”
The Commemoration honors all United States veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time between November 1, 1955, and May 15, 1975, regardless of location. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that today there are 7 million living Vietnam veterans and 9 million families of those who served in this time frame.
The IDVA makes no distinction between veterans who served in-country, in-theater, or elsewhere during the Vietnam War period, recognizing that all were called to serve and the majority served honorably and admirably.