In observance of the Wall South’s 30th anniversary, WSRE PBS and Veterans Memorial Park of Pensacola are partnering to engage the community in a week-long Reading of the Names from Saturday, Nov. 5, through Thursday, Nov. 10, requiring more than 1,200 volunteers.
Each volunteer will receive a list of names that will take approximately two minutes to read. Anyone may volunteer to read and can sign up to do so online at wsre.org/readingofnames, where the Reading of the Names will be live-streamed, as well.
The 58,318 names engraved on the granite panels of the Wall South — a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. — will be read aloud at the apex of the memorial.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for local citizens to help commemorate 30 years of the park’s anchor memorial, which really established Veterans Memorial Park—our jewel on the bay,” said Paul Entrekin, president of the Veterans Memorial Park of Pensacola’s board of directors. “This Reading of the Names also serves as a special way for our community to express why we honor our military on Veterans Day and appreciate their sacrifice for our freedom every day.”
The last page of names, reflecting the last casualties of the Vietnam War, will be read by three local Vietnam War veterans at the park’s Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 11, at 11 a.m.