Vietnam veterans honored March 29 at Longmont Senior Center

A ceremony honoring the nine million Americans who served during the Vietnam War is scheduled to be held March 29 at the Longmont Senior Center from 4-5;30 p.m. TRU Community Care is hosting the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Ceremony at the Senior Center, 910 Longs Peak Ave., to mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

National Vietnam Veterans Day is held every year on March 29 because it is the day almost 50 years ago that the last combat troops and prisoners of war were brought back to American soil, said Jen Thomas, director of community development for TRU Community Care. Thomas said the day is set aside to honor those who still served their country even in the face of all the controversy and bitterness surrounding the war. 

"...When those who were fortunate enough to finally come home, they were met by protests, scorn, neglect or silence," Thomas said via email. "National Vietnam War Veterans Day is our chance to offer the heroes a welcome they never received."

The Longmont event will include a Veteran Pinning by TRU veteran volunteers and members of the American Legion Post 32 Honor Guard. Guest speaker and veteran, Colleen Whitlow, Town of Mead Mayor, will talk about her hosting the traveling Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall this summer, the news release said.

“TRU welcomes guests to attend what is sure to be an emotional and moving celebration on March 29,” according to the news release.

The Longmont ceremony is one of many ways that TRU recognizes the unique needs of veterans and thanks them for their sacrifice and service to the country, the news release states. 

The TRU Heroes program provides specialized end-of-life care for veterans and TRU has been recognized as a five-star-level hospice in the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization We Honor Veterans program. This level places specific emphasis on staff education and caring for Vietnam-era veterans, the news release states.

TRU is also proud to have played a key role in last year’s passage of SB21-024, a bill that proposed recognition of March 30 as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day” in the state of Colorado, the news release states. Sponsored by Colorado State Senators Sonya Jaquez Lewis and Bob Rankin, the passage of the bill allows the observance by the public and in all public schools of Vietnam War vets.

TRU Community Care, founded as Boulder Hospice in 1976, is a Colorado-licensed, Medicare and Medicaid-certified, nonprofit health care organization serving Boulder, Broomfield, Adams, Jefferson, Denver and Weld counties.

The National Vietnam War Veterans Day honors U.S. Armed Forces personnel in active duty service between Nov. 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975, regardless of location of service, according to the Museum of Military History.

Those personnel include nine million Americans serving during that time, 6.4 million Americans living today, 2.7 million U.S. service members who served in Vietnam, 58,000 whose names are memorialized on black granite wall in Washington D.C, 304,000 who were wounded, 1,254 missing in action and 2,500 prisoner of war, according to the,Museum of Military History.

Over 11,000 local, state and national organizations, businesses, sport franchises and governmental entities, including the Department of Veterans Affairs mark National Vietnam War Veterans Day in some manner on March 29, the Museum states.