Vietnam War Veterans Day Commemoration

The Oklahoma History Center Museum (OHCM), in association with VillagesOKC, the local offices of Humana, Oklahoma Warriors Honor Flight, Navigating Medicare, and the Force 50 Foundation, is proud to host a pinning ceremony honoring all the servicemen and servicewomen, active or reservists, who served anywhere in the world during the Vietnam War-era. The event will be held in the Devon Great Hall of the OHCM on Friday, March 29, from 10 a.m. to noon, with the doors opening at 9 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.

March 29 was designated as Vietnam Veterans Day by the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, to be commemorated with annual nationwide events. Guided by the stipulations in that act, only Vietnam War veterans and their families are recognized. However, the Vietnam War Commemoration organization is providing recognition pins to honor any US veteran who served on active duty or in the reserves in the US Armed Forces at any time during the period of November 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975, regardless of location, Vietnam or otherwise. Family members of any veteran unable to be present may also receive this pin.

The keynote speaker at the event will be Lieutenant Colonel Michael E. Sloniker. He is a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran and recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross “for heroism while participating in aerial flight, evidenced by voluntary actions above and beyond the call of duty in the Republic of Vietnam; Captain Sloniker distinguished himself on 11 April 1972 during a mission to combat assault 650 ARVN soldiers into the besieged provincial capital of An Loc to relieve the onslaught of the advancing North Vietnamese units. Each flight into the landing zone was met by machine-gun fire and rocket and mortar attacks.”

Lieutenant Colonel Michael E. Sloniker was inducted into the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame in 2013.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Plank, one of the founders of the Liberty Jump Team will also be speaking. This team has taken more than 100 World War II veterans back to the battlefields of Normandy and Belgium, at no cost to the veteran.

Michael Do, an Oklahoma City businessman, will speak on behalf of the Oklahoma City Vietnamese community and the South Vietnamese military. Music will be provided by the 145th Army Band, known as “The Governor’s Own.”