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Traveling Vietnam War memorial in Geneseo offering reminder of ultimate sacrifice

The Geneseo City Park will be a spot for reflection and honor this weekend as a model of the National Vietnam War Memorial will show all of the more than 58,000...

The Geneseo City Park will be a spot for reflection and honor this weekend as a model of the National Vietnam War Memorial will show all of the more than 58,000 names that lost their lives during their service.

It's a scaled down version of the wall visitors will find in Washington, D.C. but just as strong of a reminder of the sacrifice people have made for the country.

It's a traveling memorial, making stops all over the country each year. This is the second time the memorial has made its way to Geneseo, first coming to the city in 2013. There are a number of community-wide events that will be happening alongside the memorial, but the biggest piece of this is just walking up to the wall and seeing all the names etched in, listed in order of the month and year they lost their lives in action. Local VFW members have been thrilled to see the community support for this memorial, and are proud to do something so meaningful to those who served in Vietnam.

"They know where they're from and when they died because they were there with them when they died. They're crying and you're crying. It's very emotional," Rhonda Borkgren with the Don Cherry VFW Post No. 5083 Auxiliary said.

Borkgren says that many of the veterans who served in the Vietnam War have struggled to share their experiences about their service, but the memorial has offered an outlet for them to reflect back and feel more comfortable.

"A lot of them opened up and started talking about it for the first time ever. So, we decided that if we can help one more person, it's worth going through all of this to bring it about," Borkgren said.

People can stop out to the memorial in the Geneseo City Park at any time.

 

Events at the park will happen through the weekend:

-A special ceremony that will include patriotic music and food at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, August 19th, 2016

-A Heroes March at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 20th, 2016 starting from the Geneseo High School, all active duty members and veterans are welcome to take part

-A special ceremony with patriotic music and food at Geneseo City Park following the Heroes March on Saturday, August 20th, 2016

-Closing ceremonies for the Vietnam War Memorial at Geneseo City Park at 1:30 on Sunday, August 21st, 2016

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