SANTA FE, NM'Vietnam War-era veterans were honored Friday at a special 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War Commemoration Ceremony in Santa Fe at the Santa Fe Veterans Memorial.

The special ceremony was part of an ongoing nationwide initiative issued by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in 2008 urging states to honor America's Vietnam War veterans, and to commemorate the pending 50th anniversary of our country's involvement in the war. Though America's involvement began in an advisory capacity as early as the late-1950's, most historians point to 1965 as the start of America's involvement in the war, when American troops began deploying to Vietnam. A 2012 Presidential Proclamation extended the commemoration through Veterans Day, 2025.

Today's ceremony was hosted through a collaborative effort by the New Mexico Department of Veterans' Services, the City of Santa Fe Veterans Advisory Board, the American Legion Riders Chapter 26, the Santa Fe National Cemetery, the Santa Fe Vet Center, the New Mexico State Council of the Vietnam Veterans of America, and Vietnam Veterans of America Northern New Mexico Chapter 996.

"During the Vietnam War, our returning service members were greeted with silence'or worse yet, with scorn'by a public not supportive of our service members serving in a war which sharply divided our country," said New Mexico Department of Veterans' Services Deputy Secretary Alan Martinez in his Welcome Address. "But history now shows us that these men and women served with honor, dignity, and bravery when our nation came calling for their service. Today, we say G