Sunday afternoon, several hundred gathered at Veterans Park in Naperville to pay tribute to the military service of those in the Vietnam War.
“We invested both our time and our families’ sacrifice for the value we placed upon freedom,” said Jim Oftedal, Vietnam Army veteran and Chaplain of the Naperville VFW Post 3873.
A national day of remembrance
The event was part of National Vietnam War Veterans Day, established in 2017, to be observed every year on March 29. On this day in 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam and the final prisoners of war were released.
Speakers included those who were active in the war, reflecting on their service…