(Washington, D.C.) — “Vietnam Veterans of America strongly opposes the inclusion of the Honor and Remember Flag provision in the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act,” said VVA National President Tom Burke. “We urge Congress to defeat this provision which seeks to make the Honor and Remember flag a national symbol for all servicemembers who died in the line of duty.”
“This proposed amendment was not adequately evaluated or discussed,” Burke pointed out. “And like H.R. 1363, the unsuccessful stand-alone bill on which it is based, Amendment #43 is strongly opposed by many veterans and veterans services organizations alike.”
“VVA believes the American flag is, and should remain, the singular national symbol representing the sacrifices of every American who has served and every American who has fallen in defense of our nation,” Burke said. “The existing symbols honoring our fallen—including the American flag, the POW/MIA flag, Gold Star traditions, and military service flags—already provide enduring and widely recognized means of remembrance and have unified servicemembers and their families for 250 years.”
In addition, the Honor and Remember Flag’s red-dominant design and gold star imagery resembles the original Bolshevik Communist flag, some variation of which has been used by Communist countries ever since. That resemblance, however unintended, cannot be overlooked and is unacceptable as a national symbol to many veterans and their families.
For Vietnam veterans especially, the striking resemblance to the flag flown by the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (aka North Vietnam) during the Vietnam War, and seen in all the images of North Vietnamese tanks invading Saigon on April 30, 1975, is impossible to ignore. For these veterans who fought against that communist flag, for the Gold Star Families who lost loved ones in the Vietnam War, and for the POW/MIA families whose loved ones were last seen in Vietnam, the Honor and Remember flag cannot serve as a positive symbol.
“Rather than creating confusion and strife regarding official national symbols by introducing new federally recognized commemorative flags,” Burke said, “VVA encourages Congress to direct its efforts towards policies that directly benefit Gold Star families, survivors, wounded veterans, and those currently serving.”
