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The
Vietnam War
In Memory
Memorial Plaque Project
Honoring America's
Post-Vietnam Casualties
In Memory Memorial Plaque
Dedication Ceremony
November 10, 2004 7:30
pm
Below
is a preliminary selection of dedication photos.
George
Duggins delivers the Invocation
Remarks
by speakers
Viewing
the proceedings
Moment
of Remembrance
At the
In Memory Plaque after the ceremony
Advisory
Board member Carla Carolan, left, with family
Minnesota
visitor Mary Lou Wolsey
Advisory
Board Member Genevieve Douglass-Beckham
Floral
tributes and personal memorabilia
Visiting
Cub Scouts learn about the In Memory Plaque
Marine
Corps Vietnam veterans visit plaque
~~
Click Here for More Dedication Ceremony photos ~~
The
Program:
Call To Service
Rick Weidman - Vietnam
Veteran Combat Medic
Invocation
George Duggins - Past
National President, Vietnam Veterans of America
Presentation of
Colors
VVA Chapter 752, Culpeper,
Virginia
Pledge of Allegiance
Mary Miller, President,
Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America
National Anthem
Capt. Duane L. Feuerhelm,
USN, (Ret)
Welcome/Introductions
Rick Weidman
Remarks
Robert Karotko,
National Park Service
Ruth Coder Fitzgerald,
President, Vietnam War In Memory Memorial, Inc.
Thomas Buckley, Husband of the late Lynda
Van Devanter, women's veterans advocate,
whose memoir, "Home Before Morning," helped to inspire
China
Beach.
Thomas H. Corey,
President, Vietnam Veterans of America
John P. Rowan, New
York State Council, VVA
Reading, 'The Other Side of the Wall'
~Moment
of Remembrance, Illumination ~
All
Amazing Grace
Patrick O'Brien
Benediction
George Duggins
Taps
Ryan Maxwell Blank, Floyd
T. Binns Middle School, Culpeper, Virginia
In Memory Plaque
Location
The In Memory Memorial
Plaque is set cathedral-style into an extension of the plaza
where the Three Servicemen statue stands, with views toward
The Wall and the Women's Memorial. The engraving is in Optima,
the same typeface used on the Wall.
Click
here to read the a text -only version of the National Capital
Planning Commission's comprehensive 6-page report to the
National Park Service regarding the In Memory Memorial Plaque
location, design, etc.
Click
here to download the original NCPC document in PDF format.
Below:
Review the In Memory Plaque's progress prior to the VVA's
Veterans Day Eve Dedication Ceremony :
~ In
Memory Plaque Unveiled ~
Thursday, July 8,
2004 --
Jennie Lefevre's Agent
Orange Quilts figured in the unveiling ceremony held
July 8 by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Among
the participants were, from left, Senator Ben Nighthorse
Campbell (beyond blue tv camera cover); In Memory Plaque
Project leader Ruth Coder Fitzgerald (in blue);
Representative Elton Gallegly and Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund President Jan C. Scruggs. This was Jennie's last public
appearance with the quilts. We honor her memory and thank
her for her longstanding loyal support of the In Memory
Plaque Project.
Click
here to read Rep. Elton Gallegly's address
See photos from the
July 8 unveiling ceremony:
https://www.angelfire.com/oz/in_memory/
Fast (broadband)
internet connections will open the pictures page quickly.
Phone modem users should expect an extended wait before the
full length of the display loads.
The American
Battle Monuments Commission has removed donor information
from its web
site and posted this message:
We wish to thank
those
who made generous contributions
to make this project a success
No more
contributions to the ABMC-VVM Plaque fund are being
requested or accepted accepted from private donors.
Contributions received in excess of the immediate project
needs have been set aside for future maintenance, according
to ABMC staff member, Mr. Michael Norbury, who may be
reached via email at NorburyM@abmc.gov.
Since 2000, when
Congress passed Public
Law 106-214 authorizing the plaque, the Vietnam War In
Memory Memorial, Inc. has encouraged contributions to the
American Battle Monuments Commission's plaque fund. We
now gratefully join them in thanking all of you who helped
to establish this new element of the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial. We look forward to greeting as many more of you as
possible at 7:30 p.m. November 10, for the dedication to be
conducted by Vietnam Veterans of America.
Click
Here for the March 30 VVA news release
Donors who have not yet notified us of
contributions to the ABMC-VVM Plaque fund are still welcome
to notify RCoderFitz@aol.com
of the fact, not the amount, of their
contribution, and to participate in our In
Memory Donor Recognition and Dedications page.
Father's
Day at the In Memory Plaque
Photo courtesy Joe & Sharon Celesnik
Friday, May 7,
2004 - The Vietnam War In Memory
memorial plaque was installed by the American Battle
Monuments Commission's contractors on the expanded and
renovated plaza near the Three Servicemen statue. Shown from
left are Firvida Construction Company president Francisco
Firvida, Roberto Firvida, ABMC staff member Michael Norbury,
and job foreman Jose M. Cavadas. Granite donated by the
National Park Service was treated by the manufacturer to
provide a slight contrast in tone and texture. Water used
clean the surrounding paving emphasizes the contrast in this
photo. The engraving, in Optima, the typeface used on the
Wall, is filled with a black grout for legibility. Rain will
similarly darken the plaque, temporarily veiling the
inscription, as it does the names on the Wall.
Click
here for high-resolution photos for printouts and media
Friday, April 23,
2004 - Firvida
Construction Company stoneworkers proceed with renovation and
expansion of the plaza where the In Memory plaque will
be located. At left stand architect J.C. Cummings and American
Battle Monuments Commission staff member Michael Norbury.
ABMC,
Architects, Park Service, Stone Contractors
Gathered to Advance In Memory
Plaque Installation
Friday, March 5, 2004
~ Thomas R. Sole,
the American Battle Monuments Commission's Director of
Engineering, Operations and Maintenance, discusses preparatory
measures onsite with (around the circle from his left) job
foreman Jose M. Cavadas and president Francisco Firvida of
Firvida Construction Company; Scot Ahrnsbrak, National Park
Service Right of Way Coordinator; Glenn DeMarr, National Park
Service Land Use Coordinator; Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Architect of Record J.C. Cummings; Stephen A. Lederach of
Arnold Associates Landscape Architecture and Urban Design;
Sean Kennealy, Chief of Maintenance, National Capital Parks -
Central, and ABMC staff member Michael Norbury.
Click
here for high resolution photos for press or printouts.
Prior to the
authorization of $50,000 to the ABMC by the board of directors
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the Commission received
private contributions totaling more than $83,650, including
$50,000 from Harley Davidson Motor Company plus more than
$33,650 from veterans' families, friends and loved ones and a
variety of veterans' groups and other organizations,
businesses, and non-federal government sources, including the State
of Vermont. Relatively recent group donors included the New
Jersey Council of Vietnam Veterans of America
and the Agent
Orange Widows Awareness Coalition.
You are
invited to visit the Vietnam War In Memory Memorial Plaque
Project's Main
Page and Donor
Recognitions and Dedications Page to learn about some of
the many other individuals and organizations who have helped
along the way.
In Memory Plaque
Project Background:
In
2000, sparked by years of efforts on the part of the
grass-roots, non-profit, all volunteer Vietnam War In Memory
Memorial, Inc., the 106th Congress overwhelmingly passed
legislation proposed by Representative Elton Gallegly of
California and Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado,
authorizing a commemorative plaque to be added to the grounds
of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, inscribed to acknowledge and
honor veterans whose premature deaths were due to their
service but who are not eligible for recognition by name on
the Wall.
A
federal agency, the American
Battle Monuments Commission, was designated by Congress to
solicit and accept private contributions and accomplish the
commemorative plaque in consultation with the architects of
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund Inc. and the Vietnam
Women's Memorial Foundation.
The
ABMC directed that the design, location and inscription for
the commemorative plaque would be reached through a process
which included representatives of the VVMF, the VWM, and the
Vietnam War In Memory Memorial Plaque Project. The result was
approved by authorities, including the National Capital
Memorial Commission, the National Commission on Fine Arts, and
the National Capital Planning Commission.
At
its National Convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, August,
2001, the Vietnam Veterans of
America, Inc., encouraged Vietnam veterans and their
families to support the establishment of the Vietnam War In
Memory Memorial Plaque and to participate in public awareness
and fund raising activities to honor those veterans for whom
the In Memory Plaque will bear constant witness.
The In Memory plaque, which bears no
names, is inscribed to commemorate ALL postwar casualties
whose names are not eligible for placement on the Wall. There
is NO requirement for adjudications, donations, registrations,
placements on a list, or recognition in a special ceremony for
those men and women whose postwar death was service-related to
be considered as being included among those whom the In Memory
plaque recognizes and honors.
Please
visit our Main
Page to view photographs representing some of the many
veterans the In Memory plaque will honor, and to learn more
about the history of the In Memory Plaque Project, the
organizations endorsing it, and the people helping to make it
happen.
Donor
Recognitions & Dedications Page
ABMC
Vietnam Veterans Plaque Page
For more information
please contact:
Ruth Coder
Fitzgerald
President
Vietnam War In
Memory Memorial, Inc.
808 Charlotte Street
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
540-371-3253
RCoderFitz@aol.com
Thomas R. Sole -
Director
Engineering,
Maintenance & Operations
American Battle
Monuments Commission
Courthouse Plaza II, Suite 500
2300 Clarendon Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201
703-696-6899
solet@abmc.gov
The story of
postwar casualties is, unfortunately, a continuing one.
Please help to continue raising public awareness of all
postwar casualties. Contact your local news media to suggest
a story including the Vietnam War In Memory Memorial Plaque.
Tell them if you or someone you know are willing to be
interviewed. Refer reporters and other media representatives
to this website, the ABMC
website and to Vietnam
Veterans of America for more information...
Thank
you!
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