Ultimately, twenty-eight military personnel from the Albemarle/Charlottesville area are memorialized at the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial.
A rededication of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial is conducted each year as part of the annual Charlottesville Dogwood Festival. Assistance in the rededication comes from UVa’s ROTC cadet Color Guard and Albemarle/Charlottesville American Legion Post 74 Honor Guard. The rededication consists of appropriate prayers, the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, a Vietnam War veteran speaker, and the placing of memorial flags and wreaths. There is also recognition of veterans and active service members, the families of those memorialized, and the Charlottesville Dogwood Festival Queen and her Court. A new United States flag is raised over the Memorial at this rededication service, and the retired flag is presented to our Keynote speaker. Since 2012, biographies of our Fallen Heroes have been presented along with a folded American flag ceremoniously given to the next of kin or another person representing the family.
Recent History of Improvements by City of Charlottesville in conjunction with the John Warner Parkway Overpass/Interchange (2012-2018)
One of his final acts, before he left the Senate in 2009, Past Secretary of the Navy, Senator John W. Warner, earmarked 30 million tax dollars to finally build the long-planned (40 years plus) Meadowcreek Parkway/Overpass. Thus, the City started the planning process as to how the project related to the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial. They invited Jim Shisler and Bruce Eades, members of the Charlottesville Dogwood Festival Board, who were chairman and vice-chairman, respectively of the annual Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Ceremony. Since it was determined that the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial was the first public/civic memorial dedicated to those who served our country in Vietnam and in particular, those who gave all in that service, they honored our request that it remain in the exact original location and not be relocated to the bottom along the creek as the early plan showed. Furthermore, it was determined that the city designers would honor Jim’s request that as much of the original memorial as possible would be saved and reused in the reconstruction process.
Since the location of the memorial was in close proximity to the new roadway, the front of the plaza elevation had to be raised (although to maintain the historic authenticity the original “X”, “Y”, and “Z” axis of the original memorial flagpole base were surveyed and it was reinstalled to that exact location) to create a new plaza with a raised dais for ceremonies, It was also determined a rock wall similar to the construction of the new overpass would be required. We ask that they use real stone facing like the original wall nearby in front of the old Rock Hill School, and not utilize the stamped design of the overpass. The city designer complied with all our requests, even placing a matching rock-faced elliptical sitting wall to rear of the new colored concrete plaza. The designer suggested that the original 24’ flagpole (which was severely oxidized and weakened near the base) should be replaced with a new thirty-foot aluminum flagpole, which would fit the scale of the enlarged memorial site. We again made a request of the city that the original flagpole be repurposed on the site as a POW/MIA flagpole (this required cutting off four feet and installing a new 2’-6” base). And again, the city said if we accomplished the work, they would show it that way on the construction plans. We continued to work together with the city and the design team, salvaged the original materials for storage and maintained the site throughout construction, since city workers were not allowed inside construction limits (all during the re-construction process).
The memorial was completed just in time for the 49t rededication in 2015, the same year the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation was formed in January. Since that time, the twenty or so Foundation members have continued to solicit funds and make improvements to the Memorial. These include the Virginia state and the five service branch flagpoles and the twenty-eight stainless steel individual history plaques with small flag holders. The new board also added the new moniker "The Hill That Heals in 2016 and the Virginia State Historic marker in 2017, and in 2018 a Founder's plaque was dedicated to James D. Shisler, William (Bill) Gentry, and Kenny Staples. Jim Shisler, who was honored with the title President Emeritus of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation in 2016, W. Bruce Eades has served as DVMF President since that time, lead a master plan committee until his passing in September 2021. The work continues on future improvements and plans that are currently being developed for a pedestrian bridge/parking area DVMF board: Access (and particularly Handicapped access) to the 60 acres of Eastern McIntire Park and the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial has become another primary focus of the DVMF members!
The members of Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation continue to expand and improve our memorial which “Honors all who served our nation in Viet Nam, and particularly those from our area who gave their lives in that service”. Keeping with that mission, last year our board voted to also honor the 26 additional local young men of University of Virginia who also gave their lives in Vietnam. To finance the additional wall and plaques, we envisioned a Memorial Brick Plaza and started fundraising selling memorial bricks to Honor anyone who served at any time or place in the U. S. Armed Forces. This fundraiser and other donation including from those connected to UVa enabled us along with M3, Inc. owned by past DVMF members Shane and Stefanie Marshall (Shane’s uncle, Robert Edward Marshall, is one of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial’s original Honorees) to complete the improvement that we called the “phase II Memorial Brick Plaza” just in time for our annual Wreathes Across America Ceremony in December of 2025 which is co- Sponsored by our partner Mission BBQ.
Our DVMF board members also continue to Honor our Fallen Heroes as our primary mission, as our upcoming third Friday April 17, 2025 annual Ceremony makes the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, the first Civic Memorial in our nation to Honor those who served in Vietnam, dedicated April 20, 1966. We at DVMF while never forgetting this primary mission of Remembering, Honoring and Teaching about their sacrifice, are also mindful that the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, since 2014 when the entrance and parking were taken away to make room for the nearby John Warner Parkway interchange, continue to strive for better access and particularly ADA Access for our Veterans and Citizens to the memorial and Eastern McIntire Park. Towards that goal we continue to develop plans and fundraise for construction of a Pedestrian bridge/parking lot project, which currently remains under VDOT and City Site Plan review. It is our hope that by donating this project of ADA access to the “hill that heals”, it will serve as a “healing ped-bridge ”for both us ole Veterans and the Citizens of Charlottesville/Albemarle County by providing an Eastern entrance to our beloved McIntire Park!
Addendums submitted April 30, 2018, with a revision made on March 31, 2022, by:
Bruce Eades, President of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation, Inc.
ADDENDUM II/ Addition II
The members of Dogwood Vietnam Memorial Foundation continue to expand and improve our memorial, which "Honors all who served our nation in Viet Nam, and particularly those from our area who gave their lives in that service". Keeping with that mission, last year our board voted to also honor the 26 additional local young men of the University of Virginia who also gave their lives in Vietnam. To finance the additional wall and plaques, we envisioned a Memorial Brick Plaza and started fundraising by selling memorial bricks to honor anyone who served at any time or place in the U. S. Armed Forces. This fundraiser and other donation including from those connected to UVa enabled us along with M3, Inc. owned by past DVMF members Shane and Stefanie Marshall (Shane's uncle, Robert Edward Marshall, is one of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial's original Honorees) to complete the improvement that we called the "phase II Memorial Brick Plaza" just in time for our annual Wreathes Across America Ceremony in December of 2025 which is co- Sponsored by our partner Mission BBQ.
Our DVMF board members also continue to honor our 56 Fallen Heroes as our primary mission, as our upcoming third Friday, April 17, 2025, annual Ceremony marks the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, the first Civic Memorial in our nation to Honor all those who served in Vietnam and particularly those from the Charlottesville/ Albemarle area who gave their lives in that service." The Dogwood Vietnam Memorial was originally dedicated on April 20, 1966. We members of the DVMF Board, while never forgetting this primary mission of Remembering, Honoring and Teaching about their sacrifice, are also mindful that the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial, since 2014 when the entrance and parking were taken away to make room for the nearby John Warner Parkway interchange, continue to strive for better access and particularly ADA Access for our Veterans and Citizens to the memorial and Eastern McIntire Park. Towards that goal, we continue to develop plans and fundraise for the construction of a Pedestrian bridge/parking lot project, which currently remains under VDOT and City Site Plan review. It is our hope that by donating this project of ADA access to the "hill that heals", it will serve as a "healing ped-bridge" for both us ole Veterans and the Citizens of Charlottesville/ Albemarle County by providing an Eastern entrance to our beloved McIntire Park!
Submitted by: DVMF President, W. Bruce Eades, on March 11, 2026
