On this day in 1973, the last U.S. combat troops left Vietnam on a flight home from Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut Air Base.
Today recognizes all men and women who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.
In total 9 million Americans answer the call, approximately 7 million living today, served during that period in-country, in-theater or stationed elsewhere.
More information on today’s ceremony in Washington D.C. at Stars and Stripes.