Carson City gathers to remember Vietnam War, honor its veterans
American military veterans, their families, friends and members of the community gathered Saturday afternoon in Mills Park to remember the Vietnam War at the annual Welcome Home ceremony held in front of the Nevada Vietnam War Memorial located on the park's east end.
The event has traditionally been held just after the March 1973 anniversary of United States military withdrawal from Vietnam.
Carson City Mayor Bob Crowell, a Vietnam War and U.S. Navy veteran, delivered the ceremony's keynote remarks, which pointed out the mistreatment of American military veterans returning from the decades-long conflict in Southeast Asia.
"To say that we were frowned upon when returning those many years ago is an understatement," Crowell said. "Many of us were mistreated and yes, even spit upon. We remember the days when we were told not to wear our uniform off base. We remember the hurtful names we were called."
But Crowell also recognized the accomplishments of American military forces in Vietnam, encouraging his fellow war veterans to hold their heads high.
"From a military standpoint the performance of our military forces in Vietnam was nothing short of exemplary," he said. "While we suffered casualties, no battle of significance was lost. For our veterans, you have every right to be proud of your performance."
Between 1965 and 1973, more than 58,000 service men and women were killed in Vietnam, while over 1,600 were listed as missing in action, according to the National Archives.
Nevada suffered 151 casualties during the Vietnam War. The names of the fallen are inscribed on the Nevada Vietnam War Memorial at Mills Park.
American involvement in Southeast Asia — and Vietnam, in particular — lasted nearly twenty years, from the late 1950s until 1975 when the last American civilians were airlifted out of Saigon in April 1975.
According to the Public Broadcasting System web site, America's direct full-scale military involvement in the war lasted more than eight years, from Aug. 1964 — when Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, authorized President Johnson to use whatever means necessary to defend Southeast Asia against North Vietnam — to March 1973, when American military forces withdrew from the region as part of a cease-fire agreement signed in January of the same year.
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