Vietnam War -- Ended 30 Years Ago

I don't know what I was doing when the Vietnam War actually ended in 1975, or even that I noticed it as I was buried in grad school. I remember so much about the war, and can vividly recall the images on the television news of tanks, soldiers, protests, and discussion during the 60's and 70's. I was involved in some protests as a college student during the anti-war era. Yet, I know many people whose lives were irreversibly changed by the war and that is sad. Not to mention the impact on the people in Vietnam. There is much that we don't know -- brutal fighting, missing POWs, prison camps, tunnels, land mines -- and much we don't want to know. It is not one of the better moments in US history; that will be debated by historians for years to come.
For the soldiers on the last tank that arrived 30 years ago, today is a celebration of life. But many other lives were needlessly ended too soon.