Why a South Vietnamese flag was displayed at Utah’s agent orange wreath laying ceremony

Andrew Vigil and Joseph Vigil place a wreath at the site of the Agent Orange Memorial that is being built in Sunset, Utah, on Dec. 13, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Nelson Thibault)

At the Agent Orange Memorial wreath laying ceremony conducted in Sunset, Utah on Dec. 13, 2025, the flag of South Vietnam was prominently displayed opposite Old Glory. 

The placement of the yellow and red South Vietnamese flag at the ceremony was a symbolic gesture intended to send a meaningful message to Vietnamese-Americans living in the Beehive State.

The wreath laying event was an inaugural ceremony presided over by Larry Kerr, chairman of the Utah Agent Orange Veterans Foundation (UAOVF), at the site of the Agent Orange Memorial in Sunset Veterans Park.

On that momentous occasion, Larry wanted to recognize Vietnamese veterans who were U.S. allies during the Vietnam War. Those veterans were also exposed to Agent Orange and similar toxic herbicides.

Displaying the South Vietnamese flag at the wreath laying ceremony seemed like an appropriate way to express such a worthwhile message. So on the morning of the ceremony, Larry took the flag from his garage and brought it with him.

That particular flag has quite a notable history. Larry, a Vietnam veteran, brought the flag home from South Vietnam about 57 years earlier. The wreath laying ceremony afforded him a great opportunity to put it to good use.

After the flag was put on a short pole, it was set to the right of the U.S. flag. Each flag flanked the Agent Orange Memorial information stand, where a specially prepared wreath was laid.

A short distance beyond the stand, the partially completed monument towered high above the ground. Even without its panels and other attachments, the memorial is quite an imposing structure.

Larry plans to display the South Vietnamese flag at future UAOVF events. He feels that it will resonate with Utah’s Vietnamese-American community, because it represents something that was worth fighting for.

In the spring of 1975, that struggle to preserve freedom ended quite tragically with the fall of Saigon. And soon after, the displaying of a South Vietnamese national flag essentially came to an end as well.

At the wreath laying ceremony however, the yellow and red flag was displayed to pay tribute to South Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange exposure who struggled to preserve their freedom in an ill-fated and costly war.