TODAY: Along with being Good Friday this year, today is National Vietnam War Veterans Day.

According to the American Legion, “March 29 is designated as National Vietnam War Veterans Day. This is a time to pay special tribute to the 9 million Americans who served during the Vietnam War era, to the 58,000 names memorialized on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and to those who never received the recognition they deserved when they returned to America from war.

“March 29, 1973, is the day U.S. Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disestablished and the day the last U.S. combat troops departed Vietnam. In addition, on and around this same day, the U.S. Vietnam War Commemoration stated that Hanoi released the last of its acknowledged prisoners of war.”

Vietnam War Veterans Day was first observed as a one-time occasion on March 29, 2012, when President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on “all Americans to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.”

The day was then introduced as an annual event in 2017 in a bill introduced by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey, and signed into law by President Donald Trump as the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017.

The bill virtually flew through the legislative process, introduced Feb. 3 and signed into law March 28, with unanimous approval every step of the way.

“Vietnam Veterans Day commemorates the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans and their families and is part of a national effort to recognize the men and women who were denied a proper welcome upon returning home more than 40 years ago,” stated the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The 2017 act makes the day an occasion on which the American flag should be raised.