FORT BENNING, Ga. — March 29, 1973: The last U.S. ground troops depart the Republic of Vietnam. Today, March 29 has become a day of recognition, remembrance, healing, and education; and marks the eighth anniversary of Vietnam War Veterans Day.

Nearly 100 people turned out in the cold and wind at the Vietnam Memorial at the corner of Stacy Boulevard and Hough Avenue on Saturday to mark National Vietnam Veterans’

Even a half-century after the end of the Vietnam War, Stephen Rosedale still remembers what it felt like trudging through rice paddies with his fellow U.S. soldiers in oppressive heat and humidity, slogging through thigh-high mud as leeches crawled up their legs.