The war in Vietnam was 'one of the most painful chapters or our history,' Obama said. Obama: U.S. wronged Vietnam vets

With the names of the dead etched in stone behind him, President Barack Obama on Monday marked the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War by calling the treatment of the conflict’s veterans a “national shame, a disgrace” and pledging that future soldiers will return home to better treatment.

The war was “one of the most painful chapters or our history,” Obama said in a speech delivered to a crowd of vets and military families in front of the Vietnam War Memorial’s “Wall of Names” on the National Mall.


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”You were often blamed for a war you didn’t start, when you should have been commended for serving your country with valor. You were sometimes blamed for misdeeds of a few, when the honorable service of the many should have been praised. You came home and sometimes were denigrated, when you should have been celebrated,” Obama said. “It was a national shame, a disgrace that should have never happened. And that’s why here today we resolve that it will not happen again. And so a central part of this 50th anniversary will be to tell your story as it should have been told all along.”

Nearly 60,000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives in an unsuccessful bid to stem the spread of communism in the Southeast Asian country, and the fierce domestic dispute over the conflict remains a political fault line dividing the Baby Boomer generation.

But the president kept his focus largely on the veterans of the war, veering only slightly into the war’s larger questions in an admonition to future leaders to learn from the failures of the past.

“Let us resolve that when America sends our sons and daughters into harm’s way, we will always give them a clear mission, we will always give them a sound strategy, we will give them the equipment they need to get the job done,” Obama said. “We will have their backs.”

The president repeated his pledge to end homelessness among veterans, and touted the “post-9/11 GI Bill” to pay for college for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Obama praised Vietnam War veterans for their post-war advocacy for better support programs for those returning home from foreign conflicts, saying better treatment of veterans would be part of their legacy.

“Because of Vietnam and our veterans, we now use American power smarter, we honor our military more, we take care of our veterans better,” Obama said. “Because of the hard lessons of Vietnam, because of you, America is even stronger than before.”

At the conclusion of the speech, the names of the 10 men who were added to the wall during the past year were read aloud.

Obama was joined at the ceremony by Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), a Vietnam War veteran.