Wilbur Snyder, a West Point graduate, served for twenty-five years in active duty. He was stationed in Germany, studied Russian, served in the Pentagon in the intelligence part of joint staff doing arms control inspections in the former Soviet Union, and served one tour at Fort Bragg, North Carolina in a unique unit called the Psychological Operations. He is a volunteer at the newly-opened Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.
Read MoreVeteran Don Adam has been a volunteer on the National Mall with the National Park Service since 2002. Adam has volunteered over 20,000 hours at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in honor of his cousin and comrades who gave the ultimate sacrifice. On August 25, 2020 Adams received the George & Helen Hartzog Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. The virtual ceremony was hosted by the National Park Foundation. Adams spent four years in the US Air Force from 1966 to 1970. He served in Japan and South Vietnam.
Read MoreVeteran and volunteer on the National Mall Hank Lazzaro shares the importance of these memorials to educate visitors from around the world about the sacrifices the men and women made in conflict, and to heal those who served. Lazzaro served a 13-month tour in Vietnam and was in the Marine Corps Reserves, totaling 11 years of Marine Corps service. After he graduated from law school he spent 32 years with the Navy, retiring as a Captain. He was a Staff Sergeant in the Marine Corps; when he left there to go into the Navy to be Captain, he served in the Judge Advocate General Corps. In total, he had 11 years in active-duty time and 32 years reserve time.
Read MoreRetired Senior Master Sergeant of the U.S. Air Force, Harry F. Miller honorably served the United States from World War II through the Vietnam War. Over the course of his more than twenty-year career in the military, Miller experienced “The Battle of the Bulge,” tours in Vietnam, Korea and Japan, the Cuban Missle Crisis and so much in between.
Read MoreAs the Founder and Chairman of the commercial real estate firm bearing his name, John “Chip” Akridge is an innovator in the industry, a committed advocate of community initiatives in the Washington, D.C. region, and a dedicated supporter of philanthropic and charitable organizations. He has served as a member of the Economic Development and Executive Committees of the Federal City Council, and as chairman of the Greater Washington Board of Trade’s Emergency Preparedness Task Force. He has received numerous industry awards and is a strong advocate for the environment. He has served on the boards of leading environmental nonprofits and various agencies of the city government. Chip is a Distinguished Eagle Scout and a Vietnam veteran.
We talked with Chip about his own experience as a veteran, what he hopes visitors take away from their visits to the memorials, and what he wants to share with those who can’t be here in person.
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