VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Dating back to 1988, the Tidewater Veterans Memorial and William L. Billy Myers, Sr. Veterans Memorial Park on 19th Street are a striking tribute to the heroic veterans of war and the brave military personnel who fought to maintain freedom.
An estimated 4,000 vets are honored there with memorial brick pavestones.
It is the Virginia Beach Mayor's Committee for Veterans' job to serve as custodians for the grounds, and much more.
And they need help, now and for the future, to ensure these honored traditions continue.
"We're looking for some new people to come on the Mayor's Committee for Veterans to help us come up with some fresh new ideas and some fresh new perspectives to help us maintain the memorial and planning and executing the Memorial Day ceremony," said Committee Chairman Virgil Hart.
Hart, himself a Navy vet, called the Memorial Park "hallowed grounds."
"This is one of the few places in the entire area that anyone can come to sit down and just reflect on what the veterans have done for us," he said.
Anyone wishing to learn more about the Mayor's Committee for Veterans can find information here.
The Hampton Roads Council of Veterans Organizations' annual Tidewater Veterans Day Parade is Monday, November 11 at 9 a.m.
It will wrap up at 11 a.m. with a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tidewater Veterans Memorial, including prayers, a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps."