NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) - A memorial dedicated to Vietnam veterans will soon be unveiled in northeast Nebraska.
An engraved stone and benches surrounding it will be publicly revealed and dedicated to the veterans on Sunday at the Norfolk Veterans’ Home, the Norfolk Daily News (https://bit.ly/2ozWrWj ) reported.
The idea behind the memorial and its design came from Bruce Bounds, who served as a U.S. Navy corpsman in Vietnam.
Bounds said the image on the 9-foot-tall, 17,000-pound granite stone is a man who is half young soldier and half older civilian. He said the image represents the turmoil veterans feel about having left part of themselves in Vietnam.
“There was nothing for Vietnam vets,” Bounds said of the veteran memorials in Norfolk. “One-third of Vietnam vets are gone, so it was time to do something.”
The Norfolk Veterans Home Foundation agreed with Bounds’ idea and offered to include the memorial at the home’s Veterans Memory Plaza.
“This is a fitting place,” said R.J. Gall, the foundation’s president. “The (veterans) home is for people from the area.”
Bounds had raised some of the $150,000 needed for the project by the time he approached the foundation. Foundation members helped raise the rest of the funding.
Scheduled speakers at the unveiling include Retired Col. Jon Beckenhauer, who served three tours in Vietnam, and Nebraska Lt. Gov. Mike Foley.
“Northeast Nebraska needed something for Vietnam veterans,” Bounds said. “(That’s why) this is important.”
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Information from: Norfolk Daily News, https://www.norfolkdailynews.com
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