Special Veterans Tribute Planned for Next Week at New Town

By Desiree Parker Friday, November 04, 2011

 

To honor Veteran’s Day this year, a new nonprofit will erect a tribute tower in New Town and host a weekend celebration to recognize men and women who have served the nation.

 

Former head of the U.S. Veterans Administration and Williamsburg resident Harry Walters established a nonprofit, the Veterans Coalition, that aims to address current veterans’ causes. As the first order of business, he organized a tribute tower to be erected in New Town along with a celebration over the holiday weekend to honor veterans on their special day (read more about the tower and the coalition’s mission in a previous story).

“The Veterans Tribute Tower Dedication in New Town will serve as permanent legacy to honor our deserved Veterans,” Walters says in a letter about the event. “The Parade is to salute them as they pass in review. And the reintegration of our citizen soldiers will mark the beginning of a new means for citizen soldiers to become part of a much needed community based solution.”

The weekend is drawing near, and the festivities kick off next week when the Verdin Company’s mobile foundry rolls into town by Wednesday to prepare the bell-casting equipment. The foundry will be escorted by several Patriot Rider Veterans, so keep an eye out for them midweek.

Close to 50 students from various local schools will participate in an ingot passing ceremony on Thursday morning at 10. The students will have a chance to add bronze ingots to a collection of material that will become the bell. Two Iwo Jima veterans will be at the ceremony as well, one of whom has sand from the battle he will add to the bell. The bell will become the central piece of the tower, which was erected this week.

The bell casting ceremony will take place Thursday at 6 p.m.

The bell will be broken out of its mold Friday morning during a ceremony in Sullivan Square at 8 a.m., and the tower will be dedicated at 1:30 p.m.

The Army’s Old Guard’s Fife and Drum Corps & Coast Guard’s Silent Drill Team will perform Saturday at 8:45 a.m. in a special public performance, and afterwards the Veteran’s Tribute Parade will roll through the streets of New Town.

Parade participants include members of the ROTC, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserves; along with Color Guards, Old Guard’s (President’s Own) and Colonial Williamsburg’s Fifes and Drums Corps, VFW, American Legion, Disabled Veterans and other patriotic organizations. There will also be a fly-over from vintage aircraft.

New Town shops are hosting a Taste of New Town for Veterans and a music Tribute to the Troops after the parade, and the evening will finish off with fireworks by Pyrotechnico, the company that does Busch Gardens’ fireworks.

Major sponsors of the event include Langley Federal Credit Union and Leebcor Services, LLC.

For the exact parade route and details about the weekend festivities, visit the Veteran’s Tribute website.