In Vietnam in the 1960s, Marine Cpl. Rene Berthiaume was a forward air controller working with indigenous Montagnard mountain people to locate branches of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that ran from the north to the south.

He remembers returning to Hawaii and civilian life afterward.

“The reception was cool. Nobody ever spit on me or anything like that,” Berthiaume said. “But I remember back in 1966 I had a tough time getting a job.”

He went to an employment agency, and “the lady said, ‘Well, you know, it (the war) is not real popular — just don’t put down that you were a Marine in Vietnam.’”

As the nation continues to try to make right its neglect of Vietnam veterans, the state House on Thursday recognized National Vietnam War Veterans Day, which was recently signed into law by President Donald Trump and is to be honored each year on March 29.

State Reps. Matt LoPresti and Gene Ward, a Vietnam veteran, offered a resolution “recognizing the brave men and women who served our country during the Vietnam War and remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

Seven Hawaii veterans were recognized from across the services, including Berthiaume and Gene Castagnetti, Marines; Steve Avilla, Coast Guard; Robert Kent, Army; Stan Fernandez, Air Force; Michael “Doc” Steinhilber, Navy; and Carswell “Caz” Ross, Hawaii Air National Guard.

LoPresti noted that more than 58,000 Americans lost their lives in fighting, and more than 300,000 were wounded.

The 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War is being recognized nationwide from May 28, 2012, through Nov. 11, 2025, according to Veterans Affairs. On May 29 at Punchbowl cemetery, a Memorial Day ceremony was held to cap a week’s worth of Vietnam War remembrances.

LoPresti said that “as this healing process continues,” he wanted to continue to thank Vietnam veterans for their fidelity and courage.

At a follow-up wreath- laying ceremony at the Vietnam War memorial on the Capitol grounds, Castagnetti, who received the Silver Star for bravery in Vietnam in 1969, noted the nation’s long “amnesia” over service and sacrifice in the war.

The recognition “is 50 years late, but I hope you can feel good about the support that you are getting today,” Castagnetti told fellow Vietnam veterans.

Berthiaume’s case, meanwhile, showed that Vietnam service was respected, too. His first job interview was with the Cody Co., which sold hot water heaters and was owned by Max Cody.

“He looks at my (application) and says, ‘What did you do the last four or five years?’ ” said Berthiaume, now 74. “And he could see my Marine Corps tattoo, and I said, ‘Well, I was in the Marine Corps.’ And he said, ‘Why in the world would you not put that down?’ ”

Cody had been in the Corps. Berthiaume got the job.