To all our proud Vietnam Veterans, to your families, caregivers, and survivors who lost loved ones in the war, thank you thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for answering our nations call for you to serve in a moment of great crisis. Thank you for everything you sacrificed on our behalf. You helped make our nation what it is today, and we will never forget what we owe to you and your families. Our veterans are the backbone, The steel, the sinew of our nation. I’ve often said that as a nation we have only one sacred obligation, we have many obligations but only one sacred obligation. That is, to prepare and equip those we send into harm’s way, and to care for you and your families when you return home. That includes making sure you get the benefits you've earned. That’s why, as a U.S. Senator, I co-sponsored the Agent Orange Act in 1991to make sure veterans exposed to toxic substances in Vietnam could get the health care they needed. And as President I’ve been proud to sign into law more than 25 bills to improve support for veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. That includes the PACT ACT, the most significant expansion of veterans benefits since the Agent Orange Act. It will help millions of veterans who were exposed to burn pits and toxins during their service. And for Vietnam vets, the PACT Act also expands your benefits -- covering hypertension -- so you can file a claim today. President Obama and I launched this 13-year-long commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War in 2012 to make sure our Vietnam veterans and their families felt and knew how much your service mattered to our nation. Today -- and every day -- we remember those we lost. We honor those who returned and continued to make our country stronger. And we renew our commitment to the families of those 1,500 service members who remain missing and unaccounted for. My Administration flies the POW/MIA flag above the White House everyday as a reminder, a reminder that we will never cease in our efforts to bring them home. As your Commander-in-Chief— I salute all of you. And I welcome you home.
