By Michael Brewer – Special to The Alpine Mountaineer

March 29 was the 50th anniversary of United States combat troops returning home from the Vietnam War. This date is now known as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

The day was first proclaimed by President Barack Obama in 2012. President Donald Trump signed it into law in 2017. It is a day to honor all veterans who served in the Vietnam War.

It is an appropriate date as it represents the day in 1973 when we began to disembark from the South Vietnam theater. It is also the date that Hanoi acknowledged what was said to be the last of the prisoners of war and they were released.

For those of us who served in this non-declared war, this writer included as a combat squad leader with the 7th Marines, we are humbled and exceptionally grateful to have a day in perpetuity, if only to have future generations learn of its complexities, ongoing residual health issues and its historical controversies that divided the soul of the nation.

Never again will we leave a fellow veteran behind nor shunned.

Welcome home!