Rocky Versace Plaza Dedicated in Alexandria

The presentation of colors by the Old Guard, 3rd U.S. Infantry, Fort Myer, Virginia.

Hundreds of friends, family members, and former classmates gathered on July 6, 2002, to mark the dedication of the Captain Rocky Versace Plaza and Vietnam Veterans Memorial at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center in Alexandria, Virginia. Two days later, Steve Versace, UMUC director of Executive Technology Programs, visited the White House to accept the Medal of Honor on behalf of his late brother, who is believed to have been executed by the Viet Cong in 1965 while a prisoner of war in Vietnam. The posthumous award was the first ever made by the Army to a prisoner of war who died in captivity, and the ceremony attracted national attention, including extensive coverage in USA Today and The Washington Post and on nationally televised broadcasts.

Steve Versace (front, third from left), UMUC director of Executive Technology Programs, with members of his family.

Onlookers stand while a bugler plays Taps following the unveiling of the sculpture in the center of the plaza. Standing (front, third from right) is Brigadier General Peter M. Dawkins (U.S. Army, Ret.), president of Versace's 1959 West Point graduating class and winner of the Heisman Trophy, who gave the ceremony's keynote address, "Remembering Fallen Heroes." Also standing (front, far right) is Alexandria, Virginia, Mayor Kerry J. Donley.

This statue of Versace, positioned at the center of the plaza, shows him with two children. When he was taken prisoner, less than two weeks before he was scheduled to return from Vietnam, he was planning to join the Catholic priesthood and return to Vietnam as a missionary to the children there. The inscription that encircles the base of the statue is from a poem by Versace's mother, the writer Marie Teresa ("Tere") Rios Versace, entitled "Missing in Action," and reads: "MY SON IS • WAS • HE OFTEN DID • DOES • HIS EYES ARE • WERE BROWN."

A young onlooker contemplates the plaza and memorial.