Councilman Pollard and partners on March 29 dedicated a Vietnam Veterans memorial at Club Creek Park in Houston, honoring area Vietnam-era service members and unveiling a monument installed as part of a larger park project.

The memorial dedication brought together the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, the TERS 20 board and other community groups for a pinning ceremony, prayers and readings. Councilman Pollard said the project was inspired by service members in his family and the wider Houston veteran community and thanked the TERS 20 board and the memorial’s sculptors, the Kelly family, for their work and support.

The ceremony included a reading of two proclamations recognizing March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day and declaring a local Vietnam War Veterans Appreciation Day; Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo was cited in the program as issuing one of the proclamations. Dr. Lashandra Jones, of the City of Houston Mayor’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs, led the city’s pinning ceremony and described the day as an opportunity to officially welcome home Vietnam-era veterans.

“The monument itself was a hundred thousand dollars,” Don, a member of the TERS board introduced during the program, said during the ceremony. Pollard said his office paid the initial $100,000 and that additional site work around the monument was extensive; a TERS board member present cited the surrounding work as roughly $10,000,000. The program also acknowledged contributions from the Houston Parks Department and the city’s mayoral veterans office.

Speakers tied the memorial to a broader effort to recognize veterans who did not always receive a respectful welcome on return from service. Pollard described his father’s experience after Vietnam as a key inspiration for the memorial, and Dr. Ronnie Evans, a Vietnam veteran invited to speak, reflected on his service and thanked fellow veterans in attendance.

Wilson Junior, introduced in the program as chair of TERS 20 and the Southwest Redevelopment Authority, said the memorial was the product of “commitment, partnership, and collaboration” among the city, county and local organizations and called the site a space for reflection for the greater Houston community.

Program elements included TAPS performed by Marine Corps veteran Nick Miller, a brief prayer led by Paul Young, and the presentation of lapel pins to veterans from all military branches. Organizers asked attendees to view the names etched on the memorial, which the program identified as those of Houston-area Vietnam veterans who have died, and to observe a moment of silence for those still missing.

The program closed with an invitation for attendees to view the memorial and to accept refreshments provided by veteran-owned vendors. Organizers emphasized the memorial’s inscription “welcome home” and urged the community to remember veterans’ service and families’ sacrifices.