Photos by NDAREC/Kennedy DeLap
2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam conflict, which concluded with the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.
U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War began in the 1950s and greatly escalated in 1965. In total, more than 8.7 million Americans served in the military during the Vietnam era, 2.7 million of whom were deployed to Vietnam.
More than 15,000 North Dakotans served in Vietnam, and 199 North Dakota soldiers died in the war.
In Washington, D.C., the Vietnam Veterans Memorial honors the soldiers who died during the Vietnam War. According to the U.S. government, it is the most visited memorial on the National Mall, attracting more than 5 million people per year. It lists the names of the 58,281 service members who died chronologically by date of casualty.
In September, 227 veterans traveled to Washington, D.C., with the Western ND Honor Flight to see the memorials which honor their service and sacrifice. About 94% of those on the Honor Flight were Vietnam veterans. Virtually all of them found names on the wall in a poignant display of remembrance.
Gone, but never forgotten.
