RICHMOND, Va. – Veterans of the Vietnam War shared their stories during a ceremony at the Virginia War Memorial on Friday honoring those who served.
The service was a lead-in to the National Vietnam War Veterans Day on Saturday, with this year’s commemoration coming 50 years after the end of the war.
The nearly 20-year war killed over 58,000 Americans, including over 1,400 Virginians whose names are etched into the memorial’s Shrine of Memory.
Forty-five Virginians remain unaccounted for from the war. Their names are written inside the memorial and were read out during the service.
“When you remember, you do two things simultaneously: you remember who came before you, and you experience belonging,” said Ben King with the Virginia War Memorial.
Veteran Johnny Livingston, who served in the Navy, said he came to pay his respects and hopes future generations will be taught about what they went through. Livingston said 74 men he served on a destroyer with died during a training exercise…