Groups Seek Vols For M.V. Tribute
The organizations bringing the Moving Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall to Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village this summer are seeking volunteers and cash donations to assist in the monument’s assembly and display.
As first reported in the Times Newsweekly, the monument will be on display between Friday, June 29, and Monday, July 2, on the eastern end of the ballfields adjacent to the Juniper North Playground, where the annual candlelight vigil for the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks are held.
The Queens/Middle Village Veterans Day Parade Committee along with Maspeth Federal Savings and the United Veterans and Fraternal Organizations of Maspeth, which are among the co-sponsors of the memorial’s display, are seeking able-bodied residents to volunteer their time on Wednesday, June 27, to help lay down a temporary, wooden foundation for the memorial.
Volunteer workers will also be required for the following day, Thursday, June 28, when the monument will be erected.
Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 32, another cosponsor of the Middle Village wall display, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America have already agreed to participate in the effort.
Additionally, the public is also asked to donate money to defray the costs of the memorial’s assembly, display and deconstruction.
Designed by John Devitt, the Moving Wall resembles the black granite monument on The National Mall in Washington, D.C. which opened in 1982 and contains the names of the more than 58,000 American troops who died during the conflict in Vietnam between 1965 and 1975.
Moved by the experience, Devitt and several other veterans volunteered to create a replica that could be transported across the country to allow local communities a chance to reflect and remember those who gave their lives during the war.
The Moving Wall was previously on display in the New York City area at Cunningham Park in Fresh Meadows and the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum in Manhattan.
Opening and closing ceremonies will bookend the Moving Wall’s display in Middle Village on June 29 and July 2, respectively.
Anyone interested in volunteering to help assemble the memorial is asked to call 1-718-965-7500 before June 8 to provide times of availability. To make a monetary donation to the effort, send a check or money order to the Middle Village Veterans Day Parade Committee, P.O. Box 790283, Middle Village, N.Y. 11379.
For more information, visit www.qvdp.org.
