South Boston will celebrate the 37th Anniversary of the South Boston Vietnam Memorial located in Medal of Honor Park on Sunday, September 9, 2018.
A Memorial Mass will be held in St. Brigids Church, 841 East Broadway, South Boston, at 10:30 a.m., followed by an 11:30 a.m. rededication ceremony at the South Boston Vietnam Memorial in Medal of Honor Park. Our keynote speaker will be General Joseph L. Lengyel, US Air Force, 28th Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
We are dedicating our ceremony in memory of John McCain.
Also attending the rededication ceremony will be the families of the 25 men from South Boston who were killed in action during the Vietnam War, Medal of Honor recipients Tom Kelley and Ryan Pitts, along with many of the South Boston Vietnam Veterans. We are dedicating this year’s ceremony in memory of US Senator and Vietnam Veteran John McCain, US Navy.
The South Boston Vietnam Memorial was among America’s first formal memorial for Vietnam Veterans – predating the dedication of the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. by 13 months – and honors 25 men from South Boston who gave their lives during the Vietnam War. South Boston suffered the highest loss of KIA for a community of its size in the country.
