TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new memorial is in the works in Tallahassee to remember all military members who are unaccounted for.
The Vietnam Veterans of America, Big Bend Chapter 96 is creating a 7-foot tall replica of the POW stainless steel bracelet worn by millions in the 1970s.
Each bracelet is engraved with the name of a service member who never made it home. More than five million bracelets were built during the first six years, and people still wear them to this day.
The organization says the replica of the bracelet will be built next to the Vietnam Memorial, across from the Capitol in downtown Tallahassee.
"The idea came from one of our members and his wife who saw one over at USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park and he came back and he said, 'It'd be so cool if we could do something like that'. I contacted the executive director at Battleship Park, and she was excited that somebody else wanted to do it," said Joe West, President of Vietnam Veterans of America, Big Bend Chapter 96.
Next to the bracelet, they'll have a piece of polished black granite giving a brief history of how the bracelet came to be.
The total project is expected to cost around $17,000 and will be privately funded.
Anybody wishing to donate can go to the website, vva96.org.
