Vietnam Veterans Day Video

Names of the 1,741 soldiers from New York City killed in Vietnam rang from the pulpit of a Downtown church. Their names were followed by a reading of the 99 New Yorkers who have died in post-9/11 conflicts.

The solemn reading of names on Saturday, April 2, held for the first time at Elizabeth Seaton Shrine, 7 State St., is part of the city’s annual commemoration of Vietnam Veterans Day, sponsored by the United War Veterans Council. It is an event that not only remembers the fallen, but honors the experiences and sacrifices of the 250,000 New Yorkers who returned home to a politically fractured and unwelcoming country.

“This day reminds me of my brothers and sisters that never returned,” said John Batson, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969. “It makes me feel that I’m really appreciated now, which I wasn’t before.”

Read the full article written by Carl Glassman and originally posted on the Tribeca Trib Online.