Lower Bucks Vietnam Memorial Set for Dedication Sunday, Sept. 26

September 24, 2021 (Hulmeville, PA) – All systems are go for Sunday’s dedication of the Lower Bucks County Vietnam Veterans Memorial following installation today of the 600-pound statue and the granite backdrop honoring servicemen from Lower Bucks County who were killed or missing in action during the Vietnam War, those who suffered the aftereffects of Agent Orange and PTSD, and all who served in the conflict.

At midday Friday DeChristopher Brothers hoisted into place the bronze statue of a soldier in combat garb and two granite tablets: one dedicating the memorial to all those from all branches of the armed forces who fought in the war, and the other listing the names of the 94 dead and one missing in action from Lower Bucks County. The statue was sculpted by Abbe Godwin, whose works include the statue of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Gardens in Raleigh, NC; the Stephen Foster sculpture in the Smithsonian American Art Museum; the North Carolina Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the state capitol in Raleigh; and more.

The memorial will be dedicated during a 90-minute ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 26, at 11:30 a.m. Featured speakers are expected to include Godwin, U.S. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, former U.S. Representative Patrick Murphy, Vietnam veterans and others. The ceremony also will include the 11-person Armed Forces Color Guard from the Military District of Washington, DC, a military helicopter flyover, and a final roll call of both living Vietnam veterans and the dead and missing.

Veterans Highway will be closed between Highland Park Entrance/(Google Maps: Hollow Road) and Trenton Road in Middletown Township between the hours of 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Sunday; Middletown Township will operate shuttle buses from remote parking facilities at Carl Sandburg Middle School/Albert Schweitzer Elementary School, both at 30 Harmony Road in the Highland Park section of Levittown, and the Middletown Senior Center at 2140 Trenton Road in Levittown. Attendants will be on site at the parking locations; lavatory facilities will be open at the Middletown Senior Center. Buses will begin running at 10:30 a.m.; the last return bus is expected to leave Veterans Memorial Park at 2:00 p.m.

The memorial honors sons of Bensalem Township, Bristol Borough, Bristol Township, Falls Township, Hulmeville Borough, Langhorne Borough, Langhorne Manor Borough, Lower Makefield Township, Lower Southampton Township, Middletown Township, Morrisville Borough, Newtown Borough, Newtown Township, Northampton Township, Penndel Borough, Upper Makefield Township, Upper Southampton Township, and Wrightstown Township.

The cost of the memorial is being funded by state and local grants, and through various fund-raising efforts. Donations can be made at www.lbcvvm.org.

The memorial has been created by the PA Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation, a grass-roots organization that includes many members of the team that brought the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall to the area in 2017. The Wall in Bucks County drew upwards of 25,000 people during its July 14-16 run in Penndel. The event also raised more than $31,000 in money and goods that was donated to local and national veterans causes. The PA Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation is chaired by Ed Preston, who also chaired The Wall in Bucks County and chair the Penndel-Hulmeville Memorial Day Parade.

About the Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation

The Pennsylvania Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation is 501(c)(3) organization that is dedicated to preserving the legacy and memory of those from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as from Lower Bucks County, who served in Vietnam War, including those who were killed or are missing in action and those who returned only to suffer the effects of the war for the remainder of their lives. More information is available at www.lbcvvm.org.