Public Invited to Memorial Day Celebration May 28 Honoring 67 Alexandria MIA/KIA Vietnam War Soldiers

Mary Wadland May 14, 2018

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The Old Guard Fufe and Drum Corps will perform at the Rocky Versace Memorial at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center in Del Ray, Alexanndria. (Courtesy photo)

City of Alexandria Holds Annual Memorial Day Ceremony to Honor 67 Alexandrians KIA/MIA in the Vietnam War

The “Friends of Captain Rocky Versace” invite the public to the Annual Memorial Day Ceremony at the Captain Rocky Versace Plaza and Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 28 at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center at 2701 Commonwealth Ave. The event will honor the 67 Alexandrians who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War.

The Ceremony will include a performance by The Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, the recitation of the names of Alexandria’s 67 Vietnam War Fallen Heroes, a presentation to Gold Star Families, reading a tribute to Captain Versace, a wreath-laying by Rocky Versace’s USMA 1959 classmates, sounding of “Taps” and a stirring rendition of “God Bless America.”

In the central plaza of the Mount Vernon Community Recreation Center in Alexandria is a sculpture by artist Antonio Tobias Mendez depicting Special Forces warrior, Rocky Versace. With hands on their shoulders, he is coaching two Vietnamese kids, how to play ball. (Courtesy photo.)

The Captain Rocky Versace Plaza and Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center is dedicated to Captain Rocky Versace and the 66 other men who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War. The Memorial is an ongoing tribute, not just to the 67 listed on the benches, but to all Alexandrians who served in America’s longest war. The Versace Memorial was dedicated on July 6, 2002 and the Medal of Honor was posthumously presented to the Versace family at the White House two days later.

For more information about Rocky Versace, and the Memorial Day Ceremony, visit www.virginia.org/Listings/EventsAndExhibits/MemorialDayCeremonyVersacePlazaMemorialinAlexandriaVA.

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The City of Alexandria is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended. To request a reasonable accommodation, e-mail [email protected], or call 703.746.5475 (Virginia Relay 711).

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