How to Begin:
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Step #1:
Letter of Introduction:
Begin your Return to Vietnam application with a brief introduction outlining your branch, unit, service dates, duties, and locations in Vietnam. Explain why you wish to return and what the mission means to you, including your commitment to honoring those who never came home.
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Step #2:
Health and Readiness Requirement:
Participants must be medically capable of meeting the physical and emotional demands of the journey and provide physician clearance when required. Veterans are expected to prepare responsibly, understand the conditions of travel, and be able to participate fully in all scheduled mission activities.
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Step #3:
Respect the Mission:
Return to Vietnam is a mission of honor, remembrance, and responsibility. Participants are expected to approach the journey with humility, respect, and integrity, honoring the fallen through their conduct and representing the mission thoughtfully and responsibly throughout every stage of the return.
Costs of Participation
No eligible Veteran should be prevented from returning to Vietnam because of financial circumstances. Participation is fully funded, including round-trip international airfare, accommodations, meals, and in-country transportation. By removing these barriers, Vietnam Inc. allows Veterans to focus fully on the purpose of the mission: remembrance, reflection, reconciliation, and honoring those who did not return.
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For many veterans, Vietnam remained present long after the war ended—in memories, places, names, relationships, and experiences carried quietly for decades.
Returning is not recreational travel. It is a mission of remembrance: an opportunity to revisit significant places, honor fallen comrades, reconnect with fellow veterans, preserve firsthand history, and reflect upon the lasting meaning of military service and war.
Every veteran experiences the return differently. There is no prescribed emotional response and no expectation of a particular outcome.
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Return to Vietnam is intended for eligible Vietnam War veterans whose service and circumstances meet the requirements of the particular program for which they are applying.
Participation is selective. Eligibility, physical readiness, service history, program compatibility, available capacity, and the ability to participate safely and responsibly are considered during the selection process.
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Unit-based journeys are generally structured around approximately twenty eligible veterans.
Each participating unit designates a primary liaison to coordinate with Vietnam Inc. regarding participant information, service history, documentation, readiness, and program logistics.
Veterans who are no longer connected with their former units may also be considered through the Individual Veteran Journey program and are not required to independently assemble a twenty-person group.
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Return journeys are generally planned for approximately twelve days, allowing sufficient time for historical visits, remembrance, reflection, community engagement, and travel between significant locations.
Each itinerary is built around the history and circumstances of the participating veterans rather than a conventional tourism schedule.
The experience is designed to support healing, strengthen camaraderie, and promote personal resolution. By maintaining a respectful and supportive environment, the program helps veterans process the past, reconnect with fellow participants, and pursue a renewed sense of peace throughout the journey.
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Every itinerary is different.
Programs are developed around the locations associated with the participating veterans and their units. Depending upon service history and access, these may include former bases, battlefields, landing zones, villages, rivers, hospitals, memorial sites, and other historically significant locations.
The objective is not simply to visit historic ground, but to reconnect veterans with the geography of their own service and preserve the human history connected to it.
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Yes.
Each journey is supported by an experienced team responsible for program coordination, logistics, participant welfare, historical documentation, and in-country operations.
Through Connecting Generations, selected veterans of later conflicts may also participate alongside Vietnam veterans, contributing intergenerational understanding while ensuring that the Vietnam veteran and their testimony remain at the center of the mission.
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Each return journey is supported by a dedicated team focused on participant safety, coordination, comfort, and the integrity of the program.
Depending upon the mission, this may include medical, logistical, historical, documentation, and in-country support personnel.
Their role is to create a professional and respectful environment in which veterans can concentrate on remembrance, reflection, and the purpose of their return.
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Return to Vietnam journeys are specifically structured around participating veterans and the shared experience of military service.
For that reason, family members and other guests generally do not accompany veterans on these missions.
This policy protects the character of the program and allows veterans to experience the return among those who share an understanding of military service, sacrifice, and the history being revisited.
Separate opportunities for families may be developed through other Vietnam Inc. initiatives where appropriate.
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Eligible participants selected for a fully funded Return to Vietnam mission participate without program cost through philanthropic and organizational support.
Covered expenses may include international transportation, accommodations, meals, ground transportation, and approved program-related activities.
Removing the financial barrier allows participating veterans to concentrate upon the purpose of their return: remembering those who did not come home, preserving their history, reconnecting with fellow veterans, and contributing to a broader mission of remembrance and reconciliation.
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