Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, and this weekend thousands of veterans, their families and others will gather in Virginia Beach to commemorate Veterans Day. At the Oceanfront, a myriad of events are planned throughout the weekend. On Thursday, crews began building The Moving Wall, a half-size traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It will be on display from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily through Tuesday at the Virginia Beach Convention Center. Military vehicles, including Vietnam-era helicopters, will be displayed outside the convention center. On Friday morning, community leaders will gather for the weekend’s opening ceremony. On Sunday, organizers will read the names of the 1,566 service members who are currently considered missing in action from the Vietnam War. The events conclude Tuesday with the city’s Veterans Day parade. The parade begins at 9 a.m. Organizers said they wanted this weekend’s events to honor the sacrifices of those who served and those who did not come home. Jeanie Jacobs Huffman knows the sacrifice all too well. Her father Edward Jacobs Jr. went missing in action in August 1967 in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. Huffman, who serves as the treasurer and founding member of Mission: POW-MIA, said helping organize this weekend’s events has been “overwhelming.” “It’s great to have (the wall) come here, especially with a lot of the veterans that can’t make it to DC,” she said. “This is a great opportunity for them to come out, bring family members and our youth to learn about the wall and the missing. There’s a variety of active members in Virginia Beach, too. It’s been a quite an effort on everybody’s part. I’m very humbled.” As the wall was being installed at the convention center Thursday, Huffman attached the aluminum panel carrying her father’s name to the wall’s frame. In total, more than 58,000 service members who died in the conflict or are MIA are honored on the wall. She said families of other MIA service members will join events this weekend. Throughout the weekend, staff members and maps will be available to visitors who want to find a loved ones’ names on The Moving Wall. The wall is one of four Moving Walls used across the country. Virginia Beach has not had the installation on display since 2005. But it did travel to Newport News in 2017, and the Outer Banks in 2023. Virgil Hart, chairman of the Virginia Beach Mayor’s Committee for Veterans, said it took collaboration from a variety of veterans groups to plan the weekend. The Voices of Freedom project will also be in Virginia Beach this week. The project collects oral histories from combat veterans from all conflicts through interviews. Hart said three veterans are already scheduled, and three more are working on being scheduled. “It’s been wonderful,” Hart said of working with other groups across Hampton Roads. “We’ve finally got everything in place. It’s all coming together.” Eliza Noe, eliza.noe@virginiamedia.com
