The annual Vietnam Veterans Remembrance event is Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno.
The 2024 Vietnam Veterans Remembrance event is Saturday from 2-3:30 p.m. at Truckee Meadows Community College in the Student Services Building, 7000 Dandini Blvd., in Reno.
Doors open at 1 p.m., and the ceremony is from 2-3:30 p.m.
Vietnam Veterans of America Sierra Nevada Chapter 989 sponsors the annual remembrance. This year’s theme is Reflections, and a presentation will be conducted by the veterans of Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and Gold Star families.
The Patriot Guard Riders will place a wreath with the help of veterans.
“We are in the final stages of a tribute to our Vietnam veterans which began on Memorial Day 2012, and it will end on Veterans Day 2025,” said J.R. Stafford, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Sierra Nevada Chapter 989.
The last American troops left Saigon in then-South Vietnam on April 30, 1975.
The ceremony also will honor veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan with a tribute to Gold Star families. Stafford said his favorite saying incorporates all veterans, but specifically those from Iraq and Afghanistan who join their brothers and sisters from Vietnam:
“Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” Stafford said.
Six days after the remembrance at TMCC, National Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29 officially honors the 9 million military men and women who served both in Southeast Asia and other duty stations at home and around the world during the 1960s and ‘70s.
President Barack Obama proclaimed March 29, 2012, as Vietnam Veterans Day, and his successor, President Donald Trump, signed the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017.
Guest speakers for this year’s event are Nevada Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony and Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry, the adjutant general of Nevada.
Berry is the senior uniformed Nevada National Guard officer, and he’s responsible for formulating, developing and coordinating all policies, programs and plans affecting more than 4,700 Nevada Army and Air National Guard personnel.
Military and veteran support organizations will be available for questions and resources.
The 2024 Vietnam Veterans Remembrance is free to the public and is non-political, non-fundraising event.
For questions, contact VVAreno989@gmail.com or call 650-888-1564.