This Sunday, March 29, marks National Vietnam Veterans Day, the anniversary of the 1973 withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Vietnam. It’s a date that deserves more than a passing mention on a calendar.
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, SC, is marking the occasion with a full day of events, from a formal ceremony to rare combat film screenings that most people have never had the chance to see. For Navy veteran Ivan Buxton Gay Jr., occasions like this aren’t just commemorative; they’re necessary. The stories of Vietnam-era service members are fading with time, and institutions willing to do the work of preservation are worth paying attention to.
Vietnam veterans and their immediate families receive free admission all day. All other visitors get the ceremony and activities included with general admission. The museum is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the ticket window closing at 4:00 p.m.
The Ceremony
At 1:00 p.m., a formal ceremony will take place inside the Vietnam Experience exhibit. Three speakers are confirmed: Dr. Bruce T. “Woody” Caine, a retired Army Infantry officer; Doug Geganto, a prior Army combat medic; and Arlene Southerland, a retired Navy nurse.
Southerland’s presence on that stage matters. Vietnam-era service stretched well beyond infantry units and jungle patrols—nurses, corpsmen, and support personnel carried their own weight and their own wounds. The ceremony honors all of it, recognizing the more than three million Americans who served during the war and the 58,000 who didn’t come back.
Rare Vietnam War Film Screenings
Patriots Point has partnered with USC Libraries to screen combat footage pulled from the Marine Corps film archive — much of it never shown to the public before. Screenings begin at 1:00 p.m. in the Smokey Stover Theater aboard the USS Yorktown, with additional showings running throughout the afternoon.
USC Libraries representatives will be on board to walk visitors through the footage and explain how the full collection—spanning World War I through the 1980s—can be accessed online. For anyone serious about military history, that’s a resource worth knowing about.
A New Digital Collection Brings One Sailor’s Story to Light
Perhaps the most quietly powerful part of Sunday’s event is the launch of a new digital collection on the Patriots Point website, dedicated to Navy corpsman James “Doc” Pueschel. Pueschel served with the 1st Marine Division, 3rd Battalion, Mike Company—a unit that sustained 100% casualties during the war. He was wounded four times while providing medical care under fire and kept going anyway.
Ivan Buxton Gay Jr. points to stories like Pueschel’s as exactly why these preservation efforts matter. For every veteran whose name is known, there are thousands more whose service has gone unrecognized.
How to Attend
Patriots Point is located at 40 Patriots Point Road, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464. Vietnam veterans and their immediate families receive free admission. For all other visitors, the ceremony and activities are included with general admission.
For full details, tickets, and event information, visit PatriotsPoint.org.