Members of congress, distinguished guests colleagues from the department of defense, past and present. Members of the Vietnam Commemoration Advisory Committee the, thank you for being here today. Thank you to the organizers an commemorative partners of this important event and thousands like it across the country and the entire vietnam commemoration effort. Most importantly, thank you to the vietnam era veterans and their families who join us. You honor us with your presence. In a year of anniversaries for this years marks the 150th anniversary of the end of our civil war, the 70th anniversary of the end ever world war ii, the 65th anniversary of the start of korean war, today we gather to remember the vietnam war and to honor those who served in it. We remember the 50th anniversary of president johnsons executive order establishing the Vietnam Service ribbon and we honor our 7. 2 million living vietnam era veterans. Fair fallen comrades in arms including those still unaccounted for and the families of all who served. That here as proud soldiers, sailors, airmen marines and coast guardsmen, a part after deep line of warriors patriots, who served and fought in lexington and concord in gettysburg and midway and kay son and more recently in fallujah and helmand. Some of those Vietnam Veterans are here today. Some bear the wound of war or the wear of age. Some carry with them memories of fallen comrades, american fathers uncles, brothers, sisters, who didnt make it home and others proudly wear vietnam veteran lapel pins and bold star buttons to remember the service and sacrifice of years past. On behalf of president obama and the entire department of defense, i thank all of you for your service. I thank you for those sacrifices and i thank you for the lessons you have taught all of us and continue to teach us. One of the reasons the United States has excelled is that as a nation we learn and innovate and one reason why we have the finest fighting force the world has ever known is that our military is a learning organization. We learn from successes we learn from setbacks. We take time to delve into our experiences and always strife to do better. The vietnam war tut us many lessons, many hardwon, some difficult to swallow but all of them have made us a better country and a better military and there are two that i believe are particularly important to remember this day. First, we leave no one behind. Were not the only military that with ethos nor are we the only nation with a p. O. W. Mia accounting effort. But there are few that have such a steadfast and sustained commitment which is more than raising the iconic powmia symbol around the nations. It is about a promise we make and work hard to keep. Thanks in part to the staunch advocacy of Vietnam Veterans and powmia families, the department of defense has 650 people devoted to accounting and missing, searching for recovery and identifying their remains. Including 1627 still missing from the vietnam war. I saw some of that continuing effort on my trip to hanoi last month where i visited one of our powmia accounting offices. The second lesson is that we must support our warriors regardless of our feelings about the war. Unfortunately that was a lesson some learned the hard way in the vietnam era but i am pleased by and again we have many Vietnam Veterans to thank for it, support fors veterans and servicemembers including the post9 11 g. I. Bill and how our troops today are welcomed home. I want to take this opportunity to thank you, our vietnam era veterans for that lesson and again welcome all of you home. [applause] vietnam era veterans and their families helped us learn those lessons and made sure we never forget them. Some mentor quietly men and women in uniform and travel to airports to welcome home those return from iraq and afghanistan. Some do so more publicly continuing service in government offices in this capitol and elsewhere across washington and across the country including my colleagues secretary john kerry and senator john mccain. And some are with us today. And i want to take a moment to say a few words about the next speaker. Chuck hagel was a soldier. He has been a short, and a distinguished secretary of defense. And he remains one of our most thoughtful statesmen. And im proud to have been able to call him a friend for many years. In vietnam then Sergeant Hagel led an infantry squad during the fighting that followed the tet offensive. Stories of his bravery and sacrifice there are wellknown and throughout the rest of his life in Public Service chuck dedicated himself to those who served to normalizing an improving relations with vietnam, to bringing those home still missing and be sure we remember the vietnam wars lessons. Thank you, chuck. [applause] and thank you again, to all of the vietnam era veterans here and around the country. May god bless you and your families for years to come. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable chuck hagel former secretary of defense. [applause] to my friend ash carter, thank you. I appreciate your your kind and thoughtful words. They could be applied to every vietnam veteran in this audience an across this country. But, ash, thank you for your continued leadership and support for our veterans. Thank you all for being here. Mr. Speaker, distinguished leaders, distinguished fests, thank you for allowing me to participate. As a former United States senator i dont follow scripts so you can not follow anything im going to say on the monitor. That is one of the few perogatives we have. That is not always held me in good stead, not following scripts in my career. As most of you understand. Those independent streaks that Vietnam Veterans have and all veterans possess and americas better for it. I take some liberty in saying that on behalf of all Vietnam Veterans and their families thank you. And thank the leadership of the congress for recognizing the sacrifices and the service of our Vietnam Veterans and tear families. Today their families. Todays ceremony comes one day after the president of the United States met with the leader of the communist party of vietnam. As we look to the future, not the past, to build a more hopeful world, a more hopeful world for all people. We also learn we learn from the past. And were determined not to make the same mistakes in the future. In 2000 president clinton signed into law a bill that congressman ron kind, my dear friend former senate colleague, vietnam veteran, senator max cleland and i sponsored to establish the veterans history project which has been very ably administered by the library of congress. Many of you here today have given interviews and presented your oral history of your service in the military particularly our Vietnam Veterans. You will hear excerpts today from some of those world histories recorded as a result of this project. I will conclude my remarks this afternoon with reading two brief passages from an interview i gave a few years ago for the book voices of war. My brother tom and i served together, side by side in vietnam in 1968. We were one much those 39 pairs of brothers that served in vietnam. 1968 was the worst year in vietnam. Hard to imagine today but we sent over 15,000 Young Americans home dead in one year. The astounding sacrifices and leadership and commitment that i witnessed, the uncommon valor, that i witnessed during that year in vietnam i have never seen since. It is projected, not in only the film that sample i dont think narrated also the soul, minds, history, the hard of everyone here. And i think now throughout america. After one year back from vietnam i was finishing college. And i was working full time as a reporter for a local station in omaha and i attended my first veterans day ceremony after coming back from vietnam. This is what i said in the interview in the oral history. Anyone who has ever served their country in uniform and has experienced what no one else has experienced can never decouple and be decoupled, from that experience. Your recognition of all of the other people who also served at have been through what you have been through, just to be near them is something special. To be near somebody and know that he or she knows that you know. I think thats why the vietnam veteran memorial is so powerful. You dont have to say a word. A word need not be uttered. So that first veterans day after i had returned from vietnam i wanted to be near those other veterans. I didnt expect any recognition. I just wanted to be a part of a group of people that had done something very special for their country. It didnt mean any of us were any better americans, anymore patriotic or certainly any smarter but we had done something most people will never do. There is not a draw goes by that you pull back on some little thing, some little thing about your life, because as we know life is not about the big things. There are very few big things that happen to each of us during our lives. It is the daytoday small things that matter. And you recall your experiences in vietnam and in service. You recall those experiences you had with others. In the army in vietnam a tolerance and understanding. A reaching beyond to understand more than the obvious. I will conclude with this short paragraph. As tom and i were waiting early one morning after our armored personnel carrier had been ambushed and a lot of our colleagues had been wounded, we were waiting for choppers medevacs to come pick us up early in the morning. And it had been a bad night. And as i remember sitting on that track both my brother and i wounded and my brother being unconscious, waiting for that dustoff, i said to myself that if i ever get out of this im going to do everything i possibly can to insure that war is the last resort the last resort that we as a great nation, as a free people as people, ever called upon to settle disputes. The horror of it the pain of it, the suffering of it, people just dont understand unless that they have been through it and always fought by the little guys at the bottom. There is no glory in war, only suffering. We are a better stronger nation today, because of the tremendous sacrifices that our Vietnam Veterans and their families made for this country and im very proud to be part of that generation and proud to be here today representing our Vietnam Veterans. Thank you very much. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable corrine brown, representative from florida. God has blessed america because of your service. You know when youre going to get a birth certificate and you die you will get a death certificate and that little time in between what youve done to make this a better place. Lets give the Vietnam Veterans a big hand. [applause] thank you so much for your service and i have to acknowledge my personal senator florida, bill nelson is a vietnam veteran. Lets give him a hand. He is here. [applause] now, to my assignment. Honor and sacrifice. A new winter of the condolences from the mother of her husbands best friend. She shared about the respect that should be given to all soldiers and the faith hope and healing from sacrifice. Dear mrs. Smith, thank you for your beautiful letter. Words fail me now they really do. So i dont know what to say accept thank you for remembering me. Im glad that you and mr. Smith and michael knew. I felt words would reach michael and im glad they did. I loved james so and will always love him. He was my world, and even though we have only one year of marriage, we had other years of just loving and sharing. I feel privileged to have been the wife of such a wonderful, warm man such as he was. Im very proud of all that he stood for and all that he was. And all of the it took for him to make this supreme sacrifices he did. Life without him is almost inconceivable. But he is in a better place now where nothing can hurt him. I know that. Everything he did was based on his love and faith in god and how i must build my life for myself and our child based on that same strength. My relationship with james is no longer physical. It is almost divine i think. My words sound hollow to me as i read over them because feelings as mine are impossible to express but i want you to know i appreciate your thoughts and your concerns. I want you to note that i feel as i do about his death, i have to accept it was gods will and as james way of wanting to die that the way he would want me to feel and love him as i do it would be wrong to be bitter. He was buried in all the dignity and honor a soldier such as he deserves, a full military funeral. I know michael would want me to know that. Now i am expecting a blessing in october. I have a baby. Then i will have part of james to love and care and i will have a purpose once again. I let you know where my little treasure arrives, love susan. God has blessed america. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable scott rigel, representative from virginia. [applause] honoring the Warrior Spirit. Reknowned sociologist Morris Janowitz said the Warrior Spirit is not easily defined based on a psychological motive for a man to seek success in combat regardless of his personal safety. Hear how one retired Army Major General described a memory that had a lasting influence. Soldiers are amazing people. It doesnt matter whether they come from an allvolunteer force or a draft force or whatever else. Ive always expect ad lot from the people i work with. And hope they expect a lot from me. The one thing that is stuck with me over the years, was when i was at west point and i was the Company Commander of company 402. They only had two regiments at the time. One of the plebes was a guy named bill. He became a lieutenant. He was a plebe in my can be at west point and darn if he didnt show up as one of my platoon leaders in vietnam. In this one instance he went on to visit the other platoons and then on to his own platoon. We were getting ready to go out. It was supposed to be easy a milk run. But it wasnt. We ended up in middle after pretty good fight. We were in bunker and fighting in a bunker complex. Its a dirt business with hand grenades. Young bill went in and pulled the pin on his grenade. Someone yelled, throw it. And he did, yet it blew up just a foot from his face and his arm was gone half his face was gone and his leg was hit. The medic said it didnt look like he was going to make it. That usually means youre not going to make it. I retired 16 years ago. I was told a west point graduate had moved in down the street. And it was bill. He made it. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable Richard BlumenthalUnited States senator from connecticut. [applause] im a United States senator but im still new so i do follow scripts. And i have the honor to say thank you to all of the Vietnam Veterans who are here today and all across the country and to read a memorandum honoring the performance of duty written by admiral thomas moore, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff between 1970 and 1974 to all active military in december of 1973. Subject, performance of duty. Upon termination of the longest and in many respects the most difficult period of combat in our nations history i give you my personal salute for a job welldone. The tremendous sacrifices and in particular the supreme effort by our comrades who were lost during the war have not been in vain. We were called upon by our nations leaders as we have been in the past to carry out orders in furtherance of national policy, and objective. Few can argue against the common will and determination shown by our armed forces while attaining these objectives. You have performed superbly. Your spirit have remained steadfast throughout the human qualities and greatness handed down from past military generations have remained undiminished. Now the long conflict has come to a close but our tasks remain. In coming months we must make every effort to account for those still missing in action while prepare ourselves for the future. As we move ahead i have every confidence that when our accomplishments and your accomplishments are chronicled in the pages of history, it will be written that you performed second to none. In the longest, most difficult and in many cases the most frustrating and complex war in the history of our nation. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, United States army band and downrange combo. [applause] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, the honorable nancy pelosi democratic leader of the house of representatives. [applause] good afternoon. Thats quite an act to follow, isnt it music of the era. While they were singing respect, secretary hagel said that in 1968 when he was in vietnam that was the number one song of the time. So that combined with his beautiful, moving story really what a day for all of us. Thank you, secretary hagel. Thank you all for being here. Mr. Speaker, leader mcconnell, leader reid. Speaking for the commemorative partners senator Johnny Isakson what a beautiful presentation to set us off. Commemorating the day 50 years ago when president johnson signed the order creating the Vietnam Service leader. 58 years later it is our privilege to come together to recognize and honor veterans and families of vietnam war. Men and women whose strength and humility and valor echo so powerful through each of the letters that why were just read. Highlighting values at the heart of this 50th year commemoration. As we recognize the courage and sacrifice of these men and women let us also recognize that we have not done full justice in meeting the needs of our vietnam era vets and their families. Let us also recognize that the vietnam vets formed their own selfhelp grassroots organizations and i especially want to recognize one in my district in San Francisco swords to plowshares founded in 1974. The decades have healed much of the emanyonety between United States and vietnam as weigh mark the 20th anniversary of the norm salization of relations between our two countries. As was mentioninged by secretary carter many vietnam era veterans and ve