Honoring those who died in Vietnam on America's birthday

More than 58,000 American servicemen and women died while serving our country in Vietnam. It's been 45 to 50 years since they passed away, but despite the passage of time, their friends and families still grieve their loss and honor the their memory. One-hundred sixty-seven of those 58,000 died on the most American of holidays, the Fourth of July. The first two perished on July 4, 1965, and the last on July 4, 1973.

More than a year ago, I set out to learn about these men and their sacrifice for our country. I was able to locate family, friends, and military comrades of about 50 of them, and in December 2014 published a book telling their stories. It's titled, "Died on the Fourth of July: Remembering the Men Who Gave Their Lives in Vietnam on America's Birthday." The book is available as a paperback at https://www.createspace.com/4650990, and in Kindle format on Amazon.

In this blog I will tell the stories of these men and how their memory lives on as our Nation marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.