Big Bear Lake, CA, September 26, 2013 – The American Veterans Traveling Tribute will be at Meadow Park (41220 Park Avenue) in Big Bear Lake from September 26-28, with the Cost of Freedom Tribute, the largest replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall traveling the USA. The mission of the project is to travel the nation to honor, respect, and remember men and women who served, and to pay specific tribute to those who gave all in that service. Since the tribute is mobile it allows people to honor and respect veterans and active military personnel without having to travel great distances to do so.
The memorial will be open to the public for continuous viewing at the park. In addition, students from Bear Valley Unified School District will visit the site to learn about the wall’s significance and history. On Saturday, September 28 at 10:00 a.m., a Grand Ceremony will be held with Keynote Speaker and U.S. Congressman Col. Paul Cook (USMC Ret.). Directions, event parking and shuttle information can be found at citybigbearlake.com/thewall.
The AVTT presents several Cost of Freedom memorials and exhibits with its centerpiece being the Traveling Wall, an 80 percent scale version of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. Across its 360-foot length the wall contains every single name etched on the original. At its apex the memorial is an impressive eight-feet tall. The Traveling Wall was completed in early 1998 and began traveling that year.
The “Cost of Freedom” exhibit also includes 190 feet of the following stand-up displays honoring all veterans and those currently serving:
o Presidents with photo
o Ranks and Medals/Awards
o WWII timeline/ casualties by country/ pictorials
o Korean War timeline and battle maps/ pictorials/Medal of Honor recipient lists
o Vietnam War timelines
o U.S. conflicts and casualties listing from 1980 to 2000- Operation Eagle Claw, El Salvador Civil War, the Invasion of Grenada , Marine barracks Bombing in Beirut, Operation El Dorado Canyon, USS Stark, Invasion of Panama, Desert Shield/ Desert Storm, Somalia, Khobar, Saudi Arabia, & USS Cole
o 9/11- Pentagon, Flight 93, Tower 1, & Tower 2 casualty listings
o Global War on Terror- collection of individual engraved gold dog tags
o Ft. Hood victim names and photos
o Police & Firefighter Pictorials and casualties by state
o FBI casualty listing
o Panels and statistics of WWI, Spanish American War, Korean War, Civil War-North & South, WWII, Desert Storm, War of 1812, Vietnam War, Mexican War, American Revolution, Cost of Freedom & U.S. Conflicts
The American Veterans Traveling Tribute is a veteran-owned project committed to travel the USA to honor, respect, and remember those who served, and pay specific tribute to those who gave all. AVTT is not a government sponsored or affiliated organization, but rather self-funded and contracted by the Texas Freedom Tribute (TFT), an IRS designated 501 C3 organization, to provide The Wall, crew, and expertise by means of charitable donations and support such as sponsorship fees, donations and the sale of merchandize.
To make a donation or to schedule an AVTT event, visit www.avtt.org or email Leah@avtt.org.
