A Prayer: Dedication of the Vietnam Veteran Wall in Fall River, MA
The following was originally read as a dedication Prayer for the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall in Fall River, Massachusetts on Saturday, May 15, 2021
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father God of all Creation and Author of Life, we stand here before this powerful symbol of bravery, grit and courage – herewith inscribed are the names of over 58,320 men plus eight brave women who were all killed in action during the War in Vietnam. 1,245 to this date are still unaccounted for as Prisoners of War or Missing in Action. Not to mention those whose names are not on the Wall behind us but came home severely maimed and disabled for life or those who have died since the end of the war as a direct result of their injuries whether physical or psychological. For them we remember and we pray.
The Gospel of Saint John Chapter 15; Verse 13 says:
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Dear God pour forth your Divine Blessing on this wall of tears shed for each man and woman who are forever inscribed on this Wall. May they always be a testament of what America is all about, “The land of the brave and the home of the free” and may you continue to grant each one eternal rest unto You and let Perpetual Light shine upon them both now and for all eternity forever and ever.
Amen!
God, let this monument and this dedication
forever remind us that we will come together to mourn our dead.
We will come together to reach out to our wounded.
We will come together to remember and to honor our brave.
Only then may we have the vision to dream our dreams again.
May we have the faith to pray our prayers again.
May we have the courage to march along together again
and together make this the kind of country
and the kind of world for which we all pray.
May we all join together and say, Amen.