RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Virginia War memorial is set to open a special exhibit commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords which ended the Vietnam War in January 1973.
The free exhibit, “50 Years Beyond: The Vietnam Veterans Experience,” will tell the stories of 50 Vietnam veterans from throughout Virginia, and will open to the public starting Saturday, Jan. 28. The veterans were recruited for the project through ads in newspapers, publications, radio and television stations and social media throughout the Commonwealth asking them to submit stories and photos of themselves taken during their time serving in Southeast Asia.
“There are nearly 200,000 Vietnam Veterans living today in Virginia,” said Dr. Clay Mountcastle, Virginia War Memorial director. “We were extremely pleased when we received over 1,000 submissions from many of these veterans as a result of our outreach efforts.”
Of the 1,000 submissions, 50 veterans were chosen to be featured in the exhibit, which includes updated professionally taken photographs of each man and woman.
The Virginia War Memorial is located at 621 South Belvidere Street in downtown Richmond. Admission and parking are free. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.