Remember & Honor Vietnam veterans — Memorial Day Tribute 2025 #Video

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. Memorial Day also marks the culmination of a year-long national commemoration to thank and honor Vietnam veterans and their families for the sacrifices they made on behalf of our nation.

The last U.S. combat troops officially left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, after the Paris Peace Accords were signed two months earlier. However, the conflict dragged on for another two years until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

The protracted conflict tallied 3.4 million U.S. service members deployed to Southeast Asia, more than 300,000 wounded, 1,582 still unaccounted for, and 58,279 who never made it home.

As our nation commemorates this Memorial Day, may we each take a moment to honor the fallen, remember the brave, and reflect on the high cost of the precious freedoms so many take for granted.

During Memorial Day Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, on May 26, 1986, President Ronald Reagan made the following remarks:

“Today is the day we put aside to remember fallen heroes and to pray that no heroes will ever have to die for us again...

“Not far from here is the statue of the three servicemen — the three fighting boys of Vietnam. It, too, has majesty and more. Perhaps you’ve seen it — three rough boys walking together, looking ahead with a steady gaze. There’s something wounded about them, a kind of resigned toughness. But there’s an unexpected tenderness, too. At first you don’t really notice, but then you see it. The three are touching each other, as if they’re supporting each other, helping each other on. I know that many veterans of Vietnam will gather today, some of them perhaps by the wall. And they’re still helping each other on...

“They were quite a group, the boys of Vietnam. It was often our poor who fought in that war; it was the unpampered boys of the working class who picked up the rifles and went on the march. They learned not to rely on us; they learned to rely on each other...

“And we owe them something, those boys. We owe them first a promise: That just as they did not forget their missing comrades, neither, ever, will we.”

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NOTE:
The iconic painting “Reflections” featured at the end of this tribute video is one that holds a special place in the hearts of many Vietnam veterans and their families. It is one of Lee Teter’s first oil paintings and came from the artist’s heart as he tried to understand the death of loved ones. He paints the emotion he feels in himself and the emotion he feels in others. Though the prints of the painting continue to sell throughout the United States and the world, generating millions of dollars for veterans, Lee did not benefit greatly. Feeling that it would be wrong to make money from this picture, he freely gave the licensing and reproduction rights to the painting to Chapter 172 of the Vietnam Veterans of America.

CREDITS
Producer/Director/Editor: Brad Neese
• Historical information, images and footage sourced from U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
• Vietnam Veterans Memorial video footage and images courtesy of U.S. National Park Service and U.S. Department of Defense
• Full honor funeral in Arlington National Cemetery video footage courtesy U.S. Army
• President Reagan’s remarks at Memorial Day Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia, May 26, 1986, courtesy of Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
• “Reflections” painting by Lee Teter, courtesy of Chapter 172 of the Vietnam Veterans of America
• Stock video footage and images licensed via Getty Images
• Soundtrack: “Heading Home” by Swan Productions, licensed via PremiumBeat (YouTube ID: Y88SHTMYWLSN6EIE)
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