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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact: Chris Gallegos
February 22, 2011	(202) 224-5054

COCHRAN JOINS TRIBUTE TO VIETNAM VETERANS

Senate Resolution Sets March 30 as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day”

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The hardships experienced by Vietnam veterans years ago should serve as a lesson to the American public today with the influx of veterans from U.S. conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a Senate resolution cosponsored by U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.).

The resolution, authored by U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), designates March 30 as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” March 30, 2011 will be the 38th anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S. combat units and combat support units from Vietnam.

“The American people were torn by war in Vietnam, and the divisiveness of those times led to unfair treatment of many returning American veterans. This resolution sets aside a day for the public to properly honor Vietnam veterans, so that the national healing process can continue and the lessons learned from that era can help today’s veterans successfully readjust to civilian life after military serviced,” Cochran said.

The Senate resolution encourages Americans to honor the men and women who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Vietnam War, noting the lack of public support exhibited toward these veterans upon their return home. While commemorating their service, the measure also encourages Vietnam veterans and the public to assist younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to recover from wounds or post-traumatic stress illnesses.

S.Res.55 states that “the Vietnam War was an extremely divisive issue among people of the United States and a conflict that caused a generation of veterans to wait too long for the United States public to acknowledge and honor the efforts and services” of those servicemen and women who served in South Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia.

More than 58,000 Americans were killed or listed as missing in action during the Vietnam conflict that first involved the American Armed Forces as advisors in 1961. More than 300,000 service members were wounded during the war, which concluded with the March 30, 1973 extraction of American combat forces and the ensuing fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

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