Sunday marked 50 years since U.S. ground troops entered Vietnam, marking the beginning of a conflict that would last a decade.

Some veterans remembered the event at the Hazlet VFW in Monmouth County.

Navy veteran Mark Bracken, who was stationed in Vietnamese waters during the conflict, and fellow veteran John Allen say they see the same mistakes being made 50 years later in the country's current fight against ISIS.

Allen says during the Vietnam War, political leaders placed fatal restrictions on how the war could be fought, leading to America's defeat.

"Unless we take the handcuffs off ourselves, I don't think we are going to accomplish that, and that is just one more indication of history repeating itself," he says.

Members of the Hazlet VFW are also leading a statewide campaign to see all public schools close each year on Veterans Day so students can have the opportunity to attend veterans' services throughout their local communities.