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FOLLANSBEE -- This month, the Follansbee Chamber of Commerce has set out to recognize the many military veterans who risked their lives for their country while serving in Vietnam.
Chamber President Debbie Puskarich said the group will use various media to raise awareness of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29, and will formally recognize local veterans of the war at a 2 p.m. ceremony that day at the Follansbee American Legion Post headquarters.
Puskarich said, in the weeks ahead, the date and, more importantly, the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans, will be acknowledged through a billboard above state Route 2 and advertising in local media.
She added a National Vietnam Veterans Day banner and certificates of recognition for all Vietnam veterans from state representatives to Congress will be presented to leaders of the local American Legion post.
"We have to let people know this is a special day to honor our Vietnam veterans," said Puskarich.
National Vietnam Veterans Day was established on the 50th anniversary of the official withdrawal of troops from Vietnam through a proclamation signed by President Barack Obama in 2012.
In response to a request by the Vietnam Veterans Day Coalition of States Council, President Donald Trump signed the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017, which calls for U.S. flags to be raised on the date.
Such measures have been seen as a means to make amends for poor or indifferent treatment to Vietnam veterans upon their returns home.
Puskarich said those who served in Vietnam were no different from those who served in other wars and conflicts, making sacrifices to defend America's freedoms.
"We just have to remember those veterans who were never remembered," she said.
It's not the first time the Follansbee Chamber of Commerce has worked to recognize them.
In 2017 the chamber was one of many local organizations enlisted by the U.S. Department of Defense to aid it in recognizing more than 8.7 million veterans who served abroad and at home from Nov. 1, 1955, (after U.S. military advisers had been sent to Vietnam) to May 15, 1975.
Working with Vito's 2, the chamber invited local veterans to a spaghetti dinner at which each was presented a lapel pin bearing an American bald eagle, elements of the U.S. flag, six stars representing the nations that fought in the war and the words, "A Grateful Nation Thanks and Honors You."
(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)