Alexandria Pauses for Memorial Day

The Friends of Rocky Versace hosted its 11th annual Memorial Day Ceremony Monday at the Captain Rocky Versace and Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial outside the Mount Vernon Recreation Center.

The Friends of Rocky Versace raised money to erect the Captain Rocky Versace Plaza and Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in 2002 in honor of the 67 Alexandrians killed in Vietnam, including Versace, an Army captain with Alexandria ties who was captured by Viet Cong forces in 1963 and endured 23 months in a POW camp before being executed. Versace was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2002.

• Read more about Capt. Rocky Versace at the U.S. Amry Center of Military History website 

The program included the reading of the names of the 67 Alexandrians who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam, a tribute to Capt. Versace written by his fellow POW Col. James Rowe, the playing of "Taps" and the singing of "God Bless America.”

The group is searching for photographs of 30 of the Alexandrians lost in the Vietnam War.

• See: Group Seeks Photos of Alexandria Vets Who Died in Vietnam War