In 1973 the Paris Peace Accords were signed, marking the end of US participation in the war in Vietnam and setting the scene for what should have been discussions on the peaceful reunification of Vietnam. That never came about, and on April 30, 1975 the US embassy in Saigon was evacuated and the city of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese, marking not only the true end of the war, but the end of South Vietnam as a country.
On April 30, 2025 we will commemorate this final chapter in one of our longest wars with a ceremony at the new National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, TX, honoring not only the men and women who served their country, but our Vietnamese-American neighbors who found their way to the United States and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In eight years of US fighting, 58,000 US servicemen were killed and today nearly 1600 remain unaccounted for. Over 600,000 Vietnam Veterans are estimated to be alive today. In many cases when those veterans returned home, they were greeted with hostility and disrespect. Few heard the words that are customary today: “Welcome Home; Thanks for Your Service”.
Our ceremony on April 30 will not only give us one last chance to say those words to our Vietnam Veterans but also to remember the end of a nation that many of our neighbors called home. Our veterans deserve to be respected, honored, saluted and remembered as the heroes they were, and to have us say “Welcome Home; Thanks for Your Service”. .
As the commander of the Dallas Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars and a refugee from Vietnam I have always wanted to have an opportunity to honor and thank these brave soldiers who fought for my adopted home (America) and for the free South Vietnamese people. Along with Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, the City of Arlington, the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, the Vietnamese community and many of our DFW-area veteran’s organizations, I invite you to join us at the National Medal of Honor Museum. Our Vietnamese community is grateful and appreciative for all that they have done.
Natan Ton-that
Chair, 50th Anniversary Commemoration Committee
Commander, Military Order of the World Wars, Dallas Chapter
Contact: natanmoww@gmail.com
Location:
1717 East Randol Mill Road
Arlington , Texas 76011
Contact Information:
natan ton-that
natanmoww@gmail.com2145481179