Volunteers to read names on Vietnam Wall

  Tuesday, May 9, 2017 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

In 1967, 11,153 Americans died fighting in operations along the Mekong River Delta, the Iron Triangle near Saigon, in the Que Son Valley and along the South Vietnamese border with Cambodia.

As part of the national multi-year 50th anniversary commemoration of the Vietnam War, the Friends of the PSU Veterans Memorial is sponsoring a special event in remembrance of those Americans who died in the Vietnam War. Following a Memorial Day observance at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 29, volunteers will read all 58,288 names inscribed on the Vietnam Wall.

Each volunteer will read 270 names over a 20-minute period. Gen James AuBuchon, the keynote speaker for the Memorial Day program, will begin the reading of the names, which will continue until midnight. Volunteers will resume at 6 a.m. Tuesday. The reading will continue, from 6 a.m. until midnight daily, until the last names are read, which is expected to take place at about 1 p.m. on Friday, June 2. A brief ceremony will be held to mark the conclusion of the reading.

Persons wishing to volunteer to read names, may do so online at www.psuvetmemorial.org or they may email their name, address, phone number and email address, along with their first and second choice of day and time to 2017PSUMemorialDayCeremony@pittstate.edu. Volunteers will be notified as soon as they are assigned a day and time. They will receive their list of names in advance so they may practice.

Volunteers are expected to keep their assigned time slot and must report to a check-in tent at the site at least 20 minutes in advance of their assigned reading time.

For additional information, call Cpt. Chad Murrow at 417-684-2826 or the Office of University Advancement at 620-235-4762.