Lower  Alabama Vietnam Veterans Memorial 
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Ground breaking, early June 1998
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Helicopter reflected in the Mobile/Baldwin County Memorial
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Vietnam Veterans Memorial
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Yellow ribbions on the POW-MIA Bracelet were for the three servicement in Macedonia. They have since been removed.

Flags waving on the shore of Mobile Bay.

One week before the dedication of Phase I
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    Chapter 701"In the spirit of adventure  and doing something different - and because I'm damn proud of it and maybe someone out there will be interested in seeing this - I give you the following information about the Lower Alabama Vietnam Veterans Memorial now under construction at Battleship Park, Mobile Ala. Thanks for your indulgence" 

              ...Bill Atkeison, VVA701,
    'Nam 68-69
    VIETNAM .
     .war.pain .sorrow .mystery .jungle .
    swamp . mountains . hot 
  • VIETNAM means something - different but the same - to all of us . . . . .
  • VIETNAM has a lasting effect of one sort or another on all Americans . . . . .
  • VIETNAM can only be understood by those of us who were there
    • . . . . . . . and we don’t understand it.
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    The Vietnam War was the longest-lasting war in the history of the United States. Only our War Between the States has divided this Nation and pitted brother against brother, father against son, as this war did.

    Approximately3,400,000 Americans served in Southeast Asia during the main period of conflict from August, 1964 through January, 1973.  There are 1,213 men from Alabama who were lost in Vietnam; seventeen of these are listed as missing in action. There is at least one casualty from each of the 67 counties in Alabama. The highest toll was paid by Jefferson County (the Birmingham area) with 221 men lost. Mobile County had 143 men Killed In Action while Baldwin County lost 32 KIA.  Mobile and Baldwin Counties are known as “Lower Alabama” - hence the name of the Memorial.President John F. Kennedy said, “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”  It is our  intention to remember and honor these men from Alabama who served their  Nation in a time of strife and turmoil.

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    In August of 1997, members of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 701 began  to make definite plans for a Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Please note that this  is a Veterans Memorial - not a “War” memorial. Battleship USS Alabama (BB60)  Memorial Park was chosen as the site for the Memorial as this park is, itself, a memorial to America’s fighting men and women. A request was made to  the Commission at Battleship Park and permission was granted to build the Memorial in the area to the left rear of the B52 Ground breaking, early June 1998bomber “Calamity Jane”. This spot was chosen because we wanted to, once again, be “under the wing” of this massive airplane. “Calamity Jane” is a Vietnam veteran having completed more than 100 missions over North Vietnam. After initiating a serious fund-raising effort, plans were drawn, a scale model was built and, on June 16, 1998, the ground was broken to begin the actual  construction. 
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    There are two Walls on a pentagon-shaped concrete base measuring approximately fifty feet across. One Wall is the Mobile/Baldwin County Memorial and the other, larger, Wall is the Alabama Memorial Wall. The black granite engraved with the names of the Mobile and Baldwin County casualties was installed and the Memorial was dedicated on November 7, 1998. 
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    As of this writing, we are still raising the necessary funds to purchase the granite for the memorial wall with the names of the men from the State of Alabama.
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    Yellow ribbions on the POW-MIA Bracelet were for the three servicement in Macedonia. They have since been removed.A nine-foot tall stainless steel “POW-MIA bracelet”, engraved with the names of the men from Alabama who are still listed as missing, was crafted and installed by one of our members. Another member is in the process of sculpting a lifesize bronze of a fifty-ish man -- is he a vet? a brother of a vet? a friend? you decide -- dressed in blue jeans, ball cap, fatigue jacket  with a few patches and a pair of authentic jungle boots. This statue will be  holding a dog tag and will appear to be looking at the “Alabama Wall” as if  trying to locate the name on the bracelet. An H-model Huey, tail number  69-16730, mounted on a stand, seems to be flying in to take a look. As evening falls, a photocell-activated system turns on the formation lights and  rotating beacon and the landing light (modified to a less intense lamp)  shines on the granite.
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    Fund raisers - T-shirts $15.00This Memorial may well be the only one in the Country of this size and scope which was designed and built by local Vietnam Veterans. The decision was made early in the planning to do this ourselves rather than contract it out  because we did not think “they” could  feel the spirit  of this project. We have had help from many local businesses and citizens.  The money for this project comes from private donations and the sale of t-shirts and commemorative engraved bricks.  We have met and shared tears with many Vietnam Veterans and Fund raisers bricks $50.00friends over the  course of the project and many vets who came to visit the park have pitched in to help for an hour or so as their schedule would allow. This has been a labor of love. Those of us who have sweated and worried over this feel honored and fortunate to have been a part of this project. Each of us has left a part of his soul in the heart of this Memorial and we hope all who visit will feel this Spirit.
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    For more information, call (334)649-2281
    or e-mail watkeison@aol.com
    Thank you for your support ! !
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