‘Can’t lose our history;’ Community remembers fallen Vietnam War soldiers this Memorial Day

DAYTON — Dozens of Miami Valley residents gathered to remember those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War on Monday.

The annual Memorial Day ceremony occurred at the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Park on 99 Veteran’s Parkway at 11 a.m.

>> Expansion coming to Veterans Memorial in Montgomery County

The ceremony featured various speakers, including Commander of the 445th Maintenance Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Colonel Edward Hale.

Mary Ackerman told News Center 7′s Nick Foley that she has been attending this ceremony for years.

She has a personal connection to this memorial as her daughter married the son of a fallen soldier who served in Vietnam.

“We just can’t lose our history. We have to keep talking about it and the younger generation, I’m sure they really don’t understand it,” Ackerman said.

More than 400 soldiers from the Miami Valley died in the Vietnam War.

Veterans that participated in this ceremony said those who never returned, can never be forgotten.

“It stands apart from, from, all the other conflicts the U.S. has been involved in, hopefully, we don’t ever have anything like that again but this is in remembrance of that time and for those individuals that didn’t come back,” Dayton Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Board Vice President March Kucharski said.

©2024 Cox Media Group