Vietnam vets saluted at signing ceremony

StatesmanJournal.com: Vietnam vets saluted at signing ceremony
Flanked by about 50 veterans, Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a bill designating March 30 as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day."

Senate Bill 74 honors Vietnam veterans and is part of a national effort to acknowledge the men and women of the Vietnam War who did not receive public recognition and welcome upon returning home. "It is an effort — small, but significant — to rectify that," Kitzhaber said.

The state estimates there are about 120,000 veterans of the Vietnam War.

"We did not dedicate the World War II memorial to veterans until 2006. But warriors don't go to war for memorials," said Jim Willis, director of the Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs and a Vietnam veteran himself. "You go to war for the man on your left, the man on your right, the one behind you."

California passed a Vietnam Veterans Day memorial last year and then asked the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs to consider doing the same in their states.