The township of Hampton, PA, hosted the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, more commonly known as the ‘Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall’. Phil Cerussi, #310’s Adjutant, volunteered to participate and act as an ambassador/guide. Other members of the Three Rivers Detachment also attended the opening ceremony held the evening of June 29th. Christopher Lochner, Municipal Manager for Hampton Township, said he raised well over the $11,000 donation from private or corporate donations to have the wall brought here. The wall will be open to the public at no charge, 24/7 from June 30 until the closing ceremony on July 4th, 12:00 noon. This is one of the two traveling walls in the United States, both are non-profit. There are 58,272 names listed on this Memorial of which 1,200 of these names are listed as MIA, POW or others; and, it represents only eighty percent of the souls lost.
The legislation for the permanent ‘wall’ located in the Constitution Gardens in Washington DC near the Lincoln Memorial was signed by President Jimmy Carter on July 1, 1980. It took three and half years to build the Memorial.