FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 29, 2018
The UMWA Marks National Vietnam War Veterans Day
[TRIANGLE, VA] UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts will join the West Virginia Council of Vietnam Veterans and their President, Dave Simmons at the West Virginia Vietnam Veterans Remembrance event in Charleston on Friday, March 30, 2018. The event will be held on the grounds of the West Virginia State Capitol at 11:00 a.m.
Congress permanently designated March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day which was passed unanimously in 2017. “We very much appreciate Senator Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) for their sponsorship of this legislation,” Roberts said. The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act marks March 29 as a day to honor those who served in that war. This was the day when the last combat troops were ordered out of Vietnam in 1973.
President Roberts, a Vietnam veteran, strongly supports the new day of recognition. “The men and women who served in Vietnam do not always get the appreciation they deserve,” Roberts said. “This day will give Americans an opportunity to express their gratitude towards the Vietnam veterans who served our country.”
“Thousands of our members fought in Vietnam,” Roberts said. “They fought for their country and then they came home and went to work in America’s coal mines to produce the fuel that energized our nation. But now they find that their right to collect the pension they earned, and that their government promised, is in jeopardy. As we recognize this important day, the UMWA remains focused on winning the pension battle to ensure that these men and women get the retirement benefits they earned in sweat and blood.”
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