PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Vietnam War veterans were remembered in a moving ceremony at the South Florida National Cemetery.
Friday was National Vietnam War Veterans Day, commemorating the last American combat troops leaving Vietnam on March 29, 1973.
The event focused on never forgetting the sacrifice of more than three million Americans who served in the war.
A traveling memorial wall was on display, which includes the names of nearly 60,000 people who died serving in the war.
Friday's ceremony also included a moment of silence for those currently serving our armed forces.
Speakers said the Vietnam War changed the way Americans saw war and paved the way for how veterans are treated when they return home.
Some say the manner in which members of the military who served in Vietnam were greeted when they returned home was not ideal. So, this is one way to pay tribute to them decades later.
"Coming here to the wall, a lot of them, either the family will visit here, or friends, fellow soldiers that served together, they come here to remember their friends," Jeff Garten of the Patriot Guard Riders said. "They see their name up there. You see them touching the wall, and that way they physically bond with their friends again. They served for our country, and we must never forget the sacrifices that they made, but we can't forget the families because they lost loved ones that will never return home."
Members of the public who want to honor veterans of the Vietnam War can visit the traveling wall through Saturday.
It will be at the South Florida National Cemetery from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Volunteers will be on-site to help families and friends find names on the wall.
