Vietnam’s National Memorial Shrine & Museum holds event to honor veterans

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - Area veterans gathered at the Vietnam’s National Memorial Shrine & Museum to pay tribute to veterans of the Vietnam War.

The event was held in honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day. While the day is on March 29, the last day of the war, organizers chose to hold the event Saturday so more veterans and their families could attend.

The names of the Allen County soldiers and veterans from surrounding counties who made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedom in Vietnam were read out loud.

Their names are forever inscribed on the Vietnam Wall at O’Day Road.

The names of eight women nurses on the wall were also read in honor of National Women’s Month.

“Today it’s an all-volunteer military but back when we were going you didn’t have a choice,” Vietnam veteran Eric Johnson said. “But I think in the long run Vietnam veterans stick together. We’re all mission-focused in our life after coming back and it’s all good.”

The Vietnam’s National Memorial Shrine & Museum will soon finish its expansion.

The Paul Wolf War History Museum is set to open on May 27 and construction on the chapel is to be complete by June.

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