Photo by Nick Serrata
Western New York National Cemetery Council will host the final Vietnam Veteran Memorial ceremony at the end of this month, per a proclamation signed by then-President Donald Trump in 2017, William Joyce says.
The proclamation was to “confirm the commitment of this nation to the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, which began on Memorial Day 2012 and will continue through Veterans Day 2025.”
Joyce, director for Genesee County Veterans Service Agency, is not certain why the final date was earmarked for March and not in November on Veterans Day, he said, however, it has been set.
The last ceremony will be at 11 a.m. March 29 at the Garrison flag pole of the cemetery, 1254 Indian Falls Road, Corfu. Joyce said that the public is welcome and encouraged to attend this last rite of honor for Vietnam veterans at this location.
Elected now as the 47th president, Trump and his administration have put the Department of Veterans Affairs up for mass layoffs “as early as June,” according to a memo reviewed by Reuters.
Healthcare and other services for veterans could be compromised by planned reductions at the Department of Veterans Affairs as it apparently seeks to cut more than 80,000 workers, Reuters said in a March 9 news article.
Joyce didn’t believe it would affect his position or his office locally in Batavia.
“It won’t affect me because I’m a county employee doing VA claims and making sure veterans are taken care of, and their spouses. So it won’t affect me or this office,” he said, adding that he didn’t want to speculate about potential cuts to the VA Hospital and related veterans programs. “I haven’t heard anything about that. It’s still green.”
