Reflections of Norfolk State University Military Alumni Chapter Foundation (MACF) Participation in the 40th Anniversary Of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC
On November 10, 2022 members of the MACF participated in the 40th Anniversary Commemoration of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC.
The Memorial is a black granite wall, dedicated November 13, 1982, upon which the names of 58,281 service men and women killed in action in the Vietnam War, are engraved. It is also meant to honor those who served and is a tangible symbol of recognition from the American people for their service. One of the events in the commemoration was The Reading of the Names aloud of every fallen hero.
The MACF was one of many organizations participating in the readings that began at 4pm on Monday November, 7th and ended at midnight November, 10th. Each reader was allotted two minutes to read a list of 30 names in sequential time slots.
MACF members representing the chapter were Colonel (Ret) William T. Russell Jr, Dr Edgar I. Farmer, LTC (Ret) William R. Rainey Sr, Colonel (Ret) Andre Wiley, Colonel (Ret) Harold L. Hagans Jr, Colonel (Ret) Ronald T. Cuffee Sr, Mr. Dewayne Wilcher and Reverend Dr. James Edwards, III.
Regretfully MACF was not able to honor all of the fallen Spartans because their names did not fall in the time slots allocated, however, their names were read during the commemoration. Their names follow:
Alfred Barnes, Alan Brent Boffman (read by Rev. Dr. Edwards III), Linwood Charles Carter,Jr. Warren Judge Goss, Thomas Henry Rhodes, Edward J. Williams.
The MACF will be establishing commemorative events to celebrate their lives in the future.
Pictured L-R: William Russell, Andre Wiley, Harold Hagans, Ronald Cuffee, Edgar Farmer, Dewayne Wilcher, William Rainey and James and Mrs. Edwards, III.