Thomas Daschle: “on April 24, 1964, Sergeant First Class Raymond Adams, a 10-year Army veteran, was killed by a hand grenade in South…”

“on April 24, 1964, Sergeant First Class Raymond Adams, a 10-year Army veteran, was killed by a hand grenade in South Vietnam. Sergeant Adams was 30 years old and married. More than 8 years later, on July 21, 1972, Specialist Fifth Class Steven Allen Trant died in South Vietnam. He was 21 years old, and had been in the Army less than a year. They were the first, and the last South Dakotans to die in Vietnam. In between their too early deaths, our country was changed utterly. More than 3 million Americans served in Vietnam. Hundreds of thousands were injured, some permanently, and more than 58,000 young Americans died in the war. Today, 20 years after the last helicopter lifted off the roof of the American embassy in Saigon we pause to say thank you to all of the men and women who served in that long, sad war and to remember those who did not return. One of the most important ways we can show our thanks, of course, is by making sure Vietnam veterans get the medical care and compensation they need for injuries they suffered in that war.”