Gov Brown issues proclamation March 30 Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day

Over two million Americans served in the Vietnam War and related conflicts in Southeast Asia between 1959 and 1975. More than 58,000 did not return. Of those who survived, over 300,000 suffered physical injuries in combat, and an even greater number developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric ailments as a result of their service.

Our treatment of the veterans of Vietnam and other wars reflects profoundly on our character as a nation. Too many of our veterans suffer from unemployment, poverty, homelessness, substance abuse and disability. Last year I signed Executive Order B-9-11, creating the Interagency Council on Veterans to coordinate the state’s efforts in providing assistance to veterans in need. While the Council continues to explore every possible improvement in policies and programs related to veterans’ issues, I urge all citizens to act in the same spirit by welcoming home our veterans, thanking them for their service and assisting them in every conceivable way.

NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim March 30, 2012, as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day."


From an article written by Charity Maness on the Coper Gazette March 13, 2011:

By March 8, 2011, the  U.S Senate has approved a resolution to set aside March 30 as "Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day," marking the day in 1973 that all U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam.

The measure was sponsored by Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

The resolutions came about when, on September 29, 2009, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

signed AB-717 at Twenty-nine Palms Marine Corps base making March 30, WHVVD. California became the first state to pass such a bill. The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 391 (VVA-391),  the largest Chapter in the State, began preparing for a parade and petitioned both the Supervisors and the Council toissue resolutions to honor the many Vietnam veterans who live in the area.

It all began in 2000 when Jose Ramos of Whittier, California, started a grass roots effort to make

March 30 as WHVVD and in 2007, the U.S. Congress issued a resolution proclaiming March 30 as a

National WHVVD. The first celebration was in Whittier, California in 2008. The VVA California State

Council got behind it and Assemblyman Paul Cook (R-Yucca Valley) introduced the bill. Since the

signing by the Governor, Tuolumne County leads the state in endorsing the bill by issuing its

proclamation. Ranch Cucamonga was the first city to do so while Sonora is the second.