Vietnam vet visits memorial ahead of 50th anniversary of the war | USA TODAY

Charles Nordan, a U.S. Army Vietnam veteran, visits the memorial in Washington to honor three of his friends ahead of the 50th anniversary of the war.

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Americans will commemorate on Wednesday 50 years since U.S. combat troops left Vietnam. Vietnam War veterans represented nearly 10% of their generation, with nearly 50,000 Tennesseans answering the call to serve.

Those who were returning from tours of combat duty and those who served stateside were vilified by protesters and draft dodgers who fled to Canada. In a word, it was ugly for those who served when they arrived home.

Our objective in Vietnam was to stop the spread of communism. It began with "advisers" as early as the mid-1950s under President Dwight Eisenhower. Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon each  escalated the war, which finally ended under President Gerald Ford in 1975.

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