WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, announced that a resolution he introduced encouraging communities across the nation to establish "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day" was passed unanimously by the United States Senate.　 The resolution designates March 30, 2010, as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day," to honor the return home of our armed service members after serving in Vietnam.　

"There’s no question that our troops served our country bravely and faithfully during the Vietnam War, and these veterans deserve our recognition and gratitude," Burr said. "Tragically, when these service members returned home, they were caught in the crossfire of public debate about our nation’s involvement in the Vietnam War.　 As a result, these brave men and women never received the welcome home and gratitude they fully deserved."

The United States became involved in Vietnam because policy-makers believed that if South Vietnam fell to a communist government, communism would spread throughout the rest of Southeast Asia.　 The US Armed Forces began serving in an advisory role to the South Vietnamese in 1961, and in 1965, ground combat troops were sent into Vietnam.　 After many years of combat, all US troops were withdrawn from Vietnam on March 30, 1973, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Therefore, March 30, 2010, is an appropriate day to establish "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day."

More than 58,000 members of the United States Armed Forces lost their lives and more than 300,000 were wounded in Vietnam.

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