BIDDEFORD — It has been more than 50 years since thousands of young men and women from across America went away to war in southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s. Many came back, many did not.

Some volunteered for military service, some were drafted – and they all served.

The city of Biddeford will mark Vietnam War Veterans Day with a ceremony and flag raising at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 29. The event, organized by Biddeford Councilor Martin Grohman, will be held at Memorial Park, at the corner of Alfred and Pool streets.

The ceremony will feature a tribute to Vietnam veterans by Joseph Armstrong, past president of Vietnam Veterans of America Post 1044, and a tribute to veterans killed in action by Raoul Goulet of American Legion Post 26.

The 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemoration Flag will be raised.

Mayor Alan Casavant was scheduled to read a proclamation to officially recognize March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day in Biddeford at the March 21 city council meeting.

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that today there are more than seven million U.S. Vietnam veterans living in America and abroad, along with 10 million families of those who served during the war.

An estimated 48,000 men and women from Maine served in the Vietnam War, while an additional 16,000 Mainers were serving worldwide during the Vietnam War era.

In all, there are 343 names of Mainers etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, known to many as The Wall. Eleven Maine Vietnam War veterans remain missing in action.

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