The Texas National Cemetery Foundation has requested the Patriot Guard to participate in a program to honor and commemorate the memory of 3,416 Texans killed in the Vietnam War and the 10 year Anniversary of the Dedication of the Cemetery. This will also kick off the Texas grassroots awareness of the Vietnam Educational Museum, which will be built near the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C..Governor Rick Perry will be the keynote speaker. 

Governor Perry was the first governor to sign on to the National Leadership team with Jan Scruggs, the founder of the Memorial Wall, to preserve the memory of the 58,000+ names carved in the Wall.

The Governor’s speaking at DFW National Cemetery on this date is a special note as well. The man recognized as the father of the DFW Cemetery, Cloyde C. Pinson, Sr., who led the effort to bring a National Cemetery to the Dallas/Fort Worth area lost his son in Vietnam. Cloyde C. Pinson, Jr., USMC, was killed in action 12 May 1967…and his name is on the Wall along with 3,415 more Texans. Mr.  Pinson passed away April 14, 2006…two days after Cloyde, Jr. was moved from the original burial site in Dallas to the National Cemetery. The two of them now rest side by side at the top of the hill at the cemetery.  The event will take place near their gravesites across from the administration building. 

So, with DFW Cemetery having a direct connect to Texans killed in Vietnam…and the Patriot Guard Riders wanting to honor and preserve the memories of these fallen heros for all time at the Educational Museum Center, we were asked to participate.
