The Iowa Department of Veterans Affairs will host the 11th Annual Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day Ceremony on Monday, May 7, 2018. The ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m. at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial located south of the Iowa State Capitol building in Des Moines. This year’s 50th Commemorative Ceremony will honor all those who have served in the Vietnam War Era, and especially those who have died as a result of their service. This includes the “hidden casualties of Vietnam” whose names are not eligible for inscription upon the Wall: these casualties are honored by the Memory Plaque, dedicated on the Vietnam Wall grounds.

Vietnam Vets Memorial, IA

Dan Gannon, Chair of the Iowa Commission of Veterans Affairs, will officiate, and John Rowan, Vietnam Veterans of America National President, will be the Honored Keynote Speaker. Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Gregg will also be speaking. Disabled American Veterans (DAV) will host a free luncheon following the ceremony at the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center (Veterans Memorial Auditorium) located at 833 5th Ave, Des Moines 50309. All are welcome to attend. Present and available at this lunch will be Secretary of State Paul Pate’s staff, the VA Regional Office, Central Iowa VA Health Care System – Eligibility and My Healthy Vet, as well as the Daughters of the American Revolution and DAV.

Gannon says “Today, we welcome them all home with honor and gratitude. So now it is critical that we not let this 50th Commemoration slip by without trying to right that wrong of 50 years ago when America neglected to welcome home our millions of warriors.”