Honoring Vets

A red poppy from the American Legion Auxiliary reminds Americans to keep alive the memories of those who served, especially on Memorial Day.

The Vietnam War was the nation’s longest and costliest conflict of the Cold War. Over 8.7 million Americans served in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam era from 1964 to 1973 (1). More than 3.4 million deployed to Southeast Asia (1) and approximately 2.7 million of those served in the Republic of Vietnam (2). On this Memorial Day 2021, VA honors their service and recommits itself to supporting all Veterans of the Vietnam era, their families and their caregivers.

21 newly bereaved survivors come to TAPS each day for resources and care. The need is great and growing. In 2020 and thus far in 2021, the families of those service members and Veterans who have died by suicide or illness, as a result of exposures to toxins while serving overseas, represent the largest population of new survivors turning to TAPS for resources and care.  

VA's National Cemetery Administration (NCA) last week announced it would lift all restrictions on gathering sizes at committal and memorial services in VA national cemeteries starting on Wednesday, May 26, 2021.

In a sign of pre-pandemic times, Disabled American Veterans volunteers met May 22 to clean the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The Veterans Legacy Memorial, our nation’s first digital platform dedicated entirely to more than 3.7 million Veterans interred in VA’s national cemeteries, provides a memorial page dedicated to preserving their legacy.

The National Memorial Day Concert May 30 will honor Veterans from different eras. Here’s a preview of some of those stories.

VA’s Office of Public Affairs' Digital Media Engagement (DME) team is expanding its Virtual Volunteer program to invite new volunteers to help create content that honors Veterans and helps them learn more about their benefits. The Virtual Volunteer program will be open to currently enrolled college students and college graduates who have skills in various forms of digital content creation, social media management and accessibility.

For the third year in a row, Carry The Load is partnering with VA’s national cemeteries to honor and remember America’s heroes during Memorial May.

Then-Army Air Forces pilot Warren Halstead flew missions daily out of Coulommiers, France, during World War II. On May 8, 1945, he was at his duty station, on break from dropping supplies and transporting wounded to hospitals in England. The news came in: the war in Europe was over. Seventy-six years later, the retired Air Force colonel still remembers the mixed emotions of Victory in Europe, or V-E, Day.

Operation Gratitude invites you to help pay it forward to our troops this May for Military Appreciation Month.

Following the success of a Memorial Day video in 2020, the Air Force Band was back at Culpeper National Cemetery in Virginia April 26 to shoot a video for Memorial Day 2021. The band returned to the site to pay respect and film a tribute to those who lost their lives in war.