The story behind National Vietnam War Veterans Day
March 29th is celebrated as National Vietnam War Veterans Day, and you may be wondering why that specific date was chosen. The answer is simple and appropriate for the question: on that day in 1973, the last combat troops were withdrawn from Vietnam and the last prisoners of war held in North Vietnam arrived on American soil. Appropriately, on February 26, 1974, President Nixon proclaimed that March 29th would be the first Vietnam Veterans Day.
The current iteration of the day came about with the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act, signed into law in 2017, which formally designates March 29 of each year as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. That may sound like a semantical difference, but what sets them apart is that Nixon made a proclamation in 1974, whereas the 2017 edition was signed into law and recognized as a national day of observance.
With the celebratory day coming later this month, we are proud to host our second annual Vietnam War Veterans Day Luncheon on the same day, March 29th. The luncheon will celebrate the honor and service of our military members that fought in the Vietnam War, while providing them with a free meal prepared by our Executive Chef and his culinary team.
We would also like to take this opportunity to look back at The War Memorial, and the Alger family’s roles in the conflict. If the following looks familiar to you, that is because some of it is pulled from past historical writings done by our in-house historian, Betsy Alexander.
First, we will look at the Alger family service during the war:
The Vietnam War came calling for PFC Frederick “Fred” Moulton Alger, III (12/20/1934 – current) who entered the Marine Corps July 3,1959 just after getting his MBA. He was sent to Camp Pendleton, CA, and joined Company A, 3dAmTracBn (Rein), 1st Mar. Div. (Rein), FMF, CP, CA.
PFC Fred Moulton Alger, III and his company in 1959 (Camp Pendleton, CA)
If you know anything about the 1st Division, you know they are the oldest and most decorated Marine Division. They also pride themselves on being extremely big and extremely fierce. Fred was involved with “the operation, employment, maneuver, and maintenance” of amphibious assault vehicles in the 3D Amphibian Tractor Battalion, known since the mid-1970s as the 3D Assault Amphibian Battalion. PFC Alger stated that he and his mates were gung ho to get to Vietnam to do some serious damage – he used a bit more 1st Marines-type parlance – and were very disappointed they didn’t get called up. He also advised he became a crack shot with a rifle while at camp as a youngster, which he illustrated while in the service winning medals in Shooting. PFC Alger mustered out July 23, 1964, in New York City where he turned loose that 1st Marine motto of “No better friend, no worse enemy” successfully for decades on Wall Street.
Post-war peacetime meant that it was time to begin honoring the brave members of our US Armed Forces. The War Memorial began the process of putting together a plaque to commemorate the service of local Grosse Pointers.
The original criteria for inclusion in the plaque was written as, “The veteran must have lived in Grosse Pointe when they enlisted or were drafted; they must have served between the years 1963 and 1975; and they must have been physically present in Southeast Asia, which includes Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and on Navy ships serving in the area.”
One oddity that was found was that twice the Grosse Pointe News reported some sort of wooden plaque that was dedicated and installed on Memorial Day of 1974, but The Vietnam War wasn’t over until April 30, 1975, nearly a year later. This could possibly have been done to coincide with President Nixon’s proclamation earlier that year.
Another plaque, or an appended wooden plaque, with 340 names, was dedicated Memorial Day of 1984. It was photographed in the front circle of The War Memorial, but no written mention was made of installing that plaque; it may or may not have been. The final Vietnam War plaque that is present today, was bronzed, re-dedicated, and installed in the Alger House entrance hall Memorial Day of 1989.
To see all that The War Memorial is doing to commemorate the Vietnam War, click here.