Ceremony in Washington, D.C. will honor Vietnam Veterans who sacrificed after the war ended
(by Heidi Zimmerman)
Washington, D.C. – More than 300 Vietnam veterans, including Jerry Dean Bascom Sr., Jon Edward Hall, DuWayne Alan Reade, and Terry Eugene Thompson of Iowa, will be inducted into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s (VVMF) In Memory Program in 2016. The program honors Vietnam veterans whose lives were cut short as a result of their service in Vietnam, but are not eligible for inscription on The Wall under Department of Defense guidelines.
On June 18, 2016, VVMF will host more than 2,000 attendees at the annual ceremony on the East Knoll of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This year, 312 service members will be honored during the ceremony. The master of ceremonies will be Capt. Denis Faherty.
During the In Memory ceremony, the names of all the honorees are read aloud and certificates bearing the honorees' names are placed at The Wall. These certificates are later collected by the National Park Service and stored in a permanent archive.
In Memory began in 1999 and has since honored more than 2,500 veterans. The plaque that honors these veterans was dedicated as a part of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 2004. It reads: In Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice.
2016 In Memory Inductees from Iowa:
Jerry Dean Bascom Sr., U.S. Marine Corps
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
April 3, 1947 – July 8, 1994
Jon Edward Hall, U.S. Army
Cedar Falls, Iowa
October 4, 1949 – February 1, 2004
DuWayne Alan Reade, U.S. Navy
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
October 11, 1951 – December 18, 2014
Terry Eugene Thompson, U.S. Navy
Villisca, Iowa
October 5, 1953 – January 8, 2004
For more information on the In Memory program, please visit: www.vvmf.org/inmemory.
About the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is the nonprofit organization that founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) in Washington, D.C. in 1982. VVMF continues to lead the way in paying tribute to our nation’s Vietnam veterans and their families. VVMF’s mission is to honor and preserve the legacy of service in America and educate all generations about the impact of the Vietnam War and era.
VVMF is in the fundraising stages to build the Education Center at The Wall. The Center will be an interactive learning facility on the National Mall where our military heroes' stories and sacrifice will never be forgotten. The Education Center will feature the faces and stories of the more than 58,000 men and women on The Wall and honor America's Legacy of Service, including those serving in our nation's armed forces today. Time Warner is the Lead Gift Benefactor in the campaign to build the Education Center at The Wall. To learn more about VVMF and the Education Center at The Wall, visit www.vvmf.org or call 866-990-WALL.
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