Vietnam Veterans Day ceremony set for Saturday in Biddeford

The City of Biddeford will mark the Vietnam War Veterans Day with a commemorative ceremony at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 29.

The event, organized by Mayor Marty Grohman and the Veterans Committee, will be held in the Biddeford City Hall Council Chambers, located at 205 Main St.

The ceremony will feature a tribute to Vietnam Veterans by Joseph Armstrong, past president of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Post 1044, and a tribute to Veterans killed in action by Raoul Goulet, American Legion Post 26. Conrad Letellier, 1st Vice President of VVA Post 1044 and Service Officer for the Disabled American Veterans, will read of list of servicemen from Maine still missing in action.

The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 designated March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. Grohman will read a proclamation at the March 18 City Council meeting to officially recognize National Vietnam War Veterans Day in Biddeford.

“Today and always, I urge the people of Biddeford to pause and pay tribute to those who served with courage, those who made the ultimate sacrifice, those who were wounded, and those who carry the lasting effects of their service," said Grohman. "To those who witnessed the cost of war and those still unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, you will never be forgotten.”

More than 48,000 Mainers served in the Vietnam War, and an additional 16,000 Maine residents were serving worldwide during the Vietnam War era. The names of the 343 Maine residents who laid down their lives are etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. and eleven Maine servicemen remain missing in action.