Forty-four years after the United States withdrew its last remaining troops from South Vietnam, March 29 has been designated as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
Sens. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., drafted the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act designating the date, and encouraging Americans to display the flag in honor of all who served, Military Times reported.
Trump signed the measure into law Tuesday night.
"Some of them were actually treated quite poorly," Toomey told Military Times.
"And that was a tragic period in our history driven by people’s perceptions of the war. … I hope and I believe we’ve gotten to a place where the American people realize how much we really should be grateful to the men and the women who served this country in Vietnam during that very, very difficult time."
Out of the 2.7 million U.S. service members who served in Vietnam, more than 58,000 were killed and more than 304,000 were wounded, Military Times reported.
An estimate by the Smithsonian suggests some 271,000 Vietnam vets might have post-traumatic stress disorder.
President Barack Obama signed a proclamation declaring March 29, 2012, Vietnam Veterans Day; the new law commemorates those vets' service every year.
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