Around May 1998, Chapter 451 approved a proposal to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary of the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Memorial.  A special committee chaired by 451 member and past chapter president John Averella was given the task of organizing a series of events over the  Memorial day weekend 1999.

It took almost a year of planning.  Initial committee meetings were held monthly.  It took a good six months for everyone to identify with each other and to realize the final objective… a program with three days of activities.  At the three month point a very up-tempo plan of advertising, using every medium, was brought forward.  Everyone started to "reach out" and spread the word throughout the Baltimore and the surrounding areas.  Contacts with the various active duty and National Guard units in the area began.  Elected officials showed support.

With one month to go, things started to happen.. A helicopter fly over was assured.. The fireboats responded positively.. Ticket sales for the DMZ to Maryland Homecoming dance picked up.. Other Maryland VVA Chapters and even out-of-state Chapters were responding  Meetings were now to be every week.

Then at the one week point, as if by some magic action had happened, all seemed to come together.. The "readers" for the 1,046 names.. The parade.. The Honor Guards… The dignitaries.. The "Souvenir Quality" program book was completed and printed… The Memorial grounds were cleaned, trimmed, pruned, planted and looking exceptionally beautiful.

Planning

Then the three days were upon us… the fruits of hard work done by all would soon blossom - good or bad.  The time for any additional planning had passed for it was time for the start of the program.