Gilbert Arizona plans a Viet Nam Memorial. Welcome Home Veterans Park will be developed adjacent to the Gilbert Police and Fire Department on Civic Center Drive.
From AZ Central / The Arizona Republic
Operation Welcome Home AZ, a veterans organization, unveiled plans for a future Vietnam War Memorial in Gilbert on Saturday.
The memorial plans were presented to a room full of city and state officials, veterans and their families. Celebrated veteran Sgt. 1st Class Cory Remsburg was present, as well as Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery.
Operation Welcome Home AZ partnered with Arizona Vietnam veterans, the Vietnamese Community of Arizona and the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services to work on the 7.7-acre park, which will have a permanent 80 percent-scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.
Welcome Home Veterans Park will be developed adjacent to the Gilbert Police and Fire Department on Civic Center Drive. It will also host an education center for visiting K-12 graders and a Veteran’s Resource Center to provide counseling and other services to current and future service members.
Those who returned from Vietnam often felt unappreciated at best and disrespected at worst, some in attendance said Saturday.
“If you were not properly thanked upon your return, we now thank you,” a representative for Congressman Matt Salmon, R-AZ, said. “And with this project, we say to you, welcome home.”
The memorial will be the first of its kind west of the Mississippi, OWH Chairwoman Lisa Rigler said.
The development of the park is expected to cost about $3 million and will be built in two phases. Officials expect to break ground this October and complete infrastructure, bathrooms and the wall by 2016. The full memorial, including the educational and resource centers, is scheduled to be dedicated on Veterans Day 2017. – original article –
