April 30: Reflection and Reaffirmation

VVA held two significant events in Washington on Saturday, April 30, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. The first was a spirited three o’clock rally at Upper Senate Park on Capitol Hill attended by several hundred spectators, a rally that focused on Congress’s inadequate and unreliable funding of VA medical programs. “We believe that the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War is the right time to call attention to the fact that three decades after the end of that war, veterans of all eras are still battling to preserve the benefits they have and assure adequate funding for veterans health care,” said VVA President Thomas H. Corey.

That message was forcefully reiterated by the rally’s other speakers, including Retired Army Gen. George Price, Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient Paul “Buddy” Bucha, VVA Board member Sandie Wilson, VVA New York State Council President John Rowan, and Charles Sheehan-Miles, a Gulf War veteran who was a founder of the Gulf War Resource Center. Sheehan-Miles said that in its unwavering support for the nation’s newest war veterans, VVA is living up to its founding principle: “Never Again Will One Generation of Americans Abandon Another.”

Soon after the rally ended, VVA hosted a solemn ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in tribute to those who gave their lives in the Vietnam War. Those in attendance ended the event by leaving roses at the base of The Wall.