Maj. Gen. Brian Mennes, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commander, gives remarks during a memorial ceremony hosted by volunteers from the Association of the United States Army and American Legion Post 1757 in front of The Moving Wall display, a traveling half size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Aug. 24, in Sackets Harbor, New York. (U.S. Army photos by Staff Sgt. Paige Behringer)
Members of the community take impressions of The Moving Wall display.
Community members pay their respects
SACKETS HARBOR, N.Y. – Volunteers from the Association of the United States Army and American Legion Post 1757 hosted a memorial ceremony in front of The Moving Wall display, a traveling half size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, Aug. 24, in Sackets Harbor, New York.
Retired Navy Capt. Father Joseph Sesito, a veteran of the Vietnam War, gave the invocation and benediction. Michelle Capone, Northern New York Fort Drum AUSA president; Molly Reilly, mayor of Sackets Harbor; Maj. Gen. Brian Mennes, 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commander; and retired Col. Michael Plummer, former 10th Mountain Division chief of staff and Vietnam veteran, spoke during the ceremony.
Mennes and Plummer accompanied John Hoffman as he laid a memorial wreath for his father, Spc. John Fuller.
AUSA volunteers coordinated The Moving Wall's visit for veterans, Soldiers and members of the community to experience the national monument here in the North Country. Soldiers of the 41st Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, helped to assemble the wall, provided security and were available to assist visitors around the clock while The Moving Wall was on display in the battalion's partnered community.
John Condino and Vernon Datoush, both Vietnam veterans, read the names of 61 service members from the North Country who are memorialized on the Wall.