The Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall is coming to Lady Lake, along with vintage Army helicopters that played a pivotal role in the war in Southeast Asia.
The memorial, a 3/5-scale replica of the monument in Washington, D.C. that pays tribute to the more than 58,000 men and women who lost their lives in the Vietnam War, will be at the soccer fields on Rolling Acres Road beginning Thursday, Nov. 1 through Monday, Nov. 5.
The Wall, which is about 300 feet long and is being brought to the area by the Band of Brothers, is scheduled to arrive at 10:30 a.m., with setup to follow. The memorial will then be available for viewing 24 hours a day until it departs at 10 a.m. next Monday.
Opening ceremonies will be held both Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m. On Friday, members of the Band of Brothers and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1036 will present the colors. Jillian O’Neill will sing the national anthem and Sounds of Scotland, led by Pipe Major Kevin Selfridge, will perform “Amazing Grace.”
At 9:45 a.m., a moment of silence will be held to honor Vietnam prisoners of war and those still missing in action, followed by the laying of a wreath by the Band of Brothers Color Guard.
Navy veteran John Marcus will offer an explanation of the Vietnam Wall, and after a few words from Lady Lake Mayor Jim Richards and retired Col. A.J. Welch, the skies will be filled with the distinctive sounds of Vietnam War-era helicopters, which will land on the soccer fields and serve as static displays for visitors to the Wall.
The helicopter’s role in combat expanded enormously during the Vietnam War, as thousands of “choppers” rapidly transported personnel and wounded soldiers throughout war zones. And the UH-1 “Huey” became the ubiquitous symbol of the war.
Shortly after the fly-in, John Bird, of Veterans Memorial Park in The Villages, will play “Taps,” O’Neill will sing “God Bless America” and Wall viewing will begin at about 11:15 a.m.
A similar-but-much-shorter ceremony will be held Saturday morning, which will include the presentation of colors by honor guards from The Col. Phillip C. DeLong Detachment 1267 of the Marine Corps League and Veterans Memorial Park. And a closing ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, with viewing continuing until the Wall departs the area Monday morning.
“Some 30,000 people toured the ‘Wall’ the last time it was in the area,” Band of Brothers member Jerry Prince said earlier this year, referring to a similar event in November 2015. “We want to reach out to all vets, especially those who served in Vietnam. They returned home unrecognized and unappreciated. Our Memorial Wall program is another way that everyone can demonstrate our support of veterans.”