ROCKINGHAM — AMVETS Post 316 is hosting an event later this month to honor and remember those who fought in the Vietnam War.
The event, slated for March 29, marks the 52nd anniversary of the date of the last servicemember pullout of South Vietnam, according to a proclamation recently adopted by the Richmond County Board of Commissioners.
The date is also recognized as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.
The 20-year conflict, known as the Second Indochina War, started in 1955 as a war between the communists of North Vietnam and non-communists of South Vietnam, the resolution reads.
Fearing the spread of communism throughout southeast Asia, the United States officially became involved in 1962 in an advisory capacity, with troops deployed several years later — peaking at 543,000 by 1969, according to the resolution.
Servicemembers began pulling out of the region in January of 1973 following the signing of the Paris Peace Accords.
More than 2.7 million troops served in southeast Asia during the war era. Of those, 58,260 U.S. service members were killed, including 1,302 from North Carolina.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there were still 16,000 Americans unaccounted for by the end of 2023.
Richmond County's Vietnam casualties were:
During the 2023 Memorial Day Service at Richmond County Veterans Memorial Park and Richmond County Hospice’s Salute to Veterans, the men were recognized with the ringing of a bell.
Hoopaugh was honored last year — along with James E. Goins — with a memorial casket monument at Norman’s Field of Honor.
Citing U.S. Census Bureau statistics, Donna Craven Harbolt — a retired Army sergeant major — said during a November service at the Norman Field of Honor that 33% of all living veterans served during the Vietnam War.
So far in 2025, the area has lost at least four veterans from the Vietnam era.
Joe Lyerly served as a recon scout in the U.S. Army. In his obituary, he is quoted as saying: “PTSD and Agent Orange caused me health and mental problems, but God’s grace never failed me.”
William David Hudson Jr. served in the U.S. Army and was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal, according to his obituary.
Billy Donald Perhealth, of Wallace, South Carolina, joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968 and was “deployed to the front lines of the Vietnam War,” as his obituary reads.
Herb Wilson, originally from New Jersey, was also in the Army during the war, but was stationed in Germany.
The event is scheduled for 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at 503 Rockingham Road. Hot dogs will be provided.
