Groundbreaking slated for Vietnam War memorial at Camp Pendleton
A Camp Pendleton memorial honoring members of the “Fighting 5th” who fell in Vietnam will take another step closer to completion this week.
A groundbreaking ceremony is set for 3 p.m. on Friday at the 5th Marine Regiment Memorial Garden in the Camp Mateo section of the sprawling base.
“We absolutely want everyone there. The public is invited,” said Steve Colwell, the Carlsbad real estate developer who has spearheaded the building of the monument.
Vermont’s Rock of Ages quarry has been hewing the 50 tons of black granite into six large slabs. Along with a spire rising in the center of the monument, the memorial will display the names of 2,706 Marines and sailors killed in action while fighting for the three battalions that comprised the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam, plus the dead from 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines.
“I just got back from” Vermont, said Colwell, who was seriously wounded near Hoi An while serving with D Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in 1967. “They needed us to approve the color and the polish of the granite.”
With the stonework slated to arrive at Camp Pendleton on March 29 -- National Vietnam War Veterans Day — the completed monument is expected to be dedicated on Memorial Day.
The groundbreaking ceremony is expected to draw a large number of contractors — many who will work on the project for free — plus elected leaders from Irvine, Dana Point, Rancho Santa Margarita and San Clemente, sponsors of the memorial.
A group of nonprofits — including the 1/5 Vietnam Veterans Assn., the 1st Marine Division Assn. and the Dana Point 5th Marine Regiment Support Group — have $276,607 in their coffers from donations, but they’re seeking about $130,000 more from the public.
They think that will be enough to complete the monument and host combat veterans nationwide who lack the funds to travel to California. Organizers estimate that more than 20,000 troops served in the 5th Marines and 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines during the Vietnam War.
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