Gold Canyon resident and military veteran Nancy Fassbender recently returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., where she and three other individuals represented Arizona and were in a National Vietnam Veterans Day ceremony.

She volunteers with the USA Vietnam War Commemoration, which honors all Vietnam War veterans.

Fassbender has done more than 150 ceremonies around Arizona and in other states pinning Vietnam veterans with a special pin, she said in an email.

“I was invited to be in Washington, D.C. I was asked to invite three Vietnam veterans from the area who were involved in the community,” Fassbender said in an email. “We will be assigned a junior officer and we will be placing a wreath on the (Vietnam Memorial Wall) in honor of all who served during that time period.”

The three Vietnam veterans she invited were: Michael Overmeyer, commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 2560; Frank White, former VFW 7968 commander; and Phillip Todd.

“We are honored to be invited and represent Arizona and to be in the ceremony at the Vietnam Memorial Wall. We each were assigned a junior officer. We were escorted down to the Vietnam Wall during the ceremony and honor each branch of service,” she said. “March 29 is the National Vietnam Veterans Day. It is to honor all veterans who served during Nov. 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975. It does not matter if you served in-country, in-state, in another country or Vietnam —you are honored.”

To watch the broadcast, go to www.vietnamwar50th.com.

“All of us were so honored to be doing this. I am still flying off the ceiling,” Fassbender said.

She also has been interviewed by the Wreaths Across America radio station. Go to https://on.soundcloud.com/dMw6R39oQRZsXJk87

The author of “My Fallen Hero,” and a 2020 inductee of the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame, Fassbender is a Wreaths Across America location coordinator.