Viet Vets Dedicate Memorial

Community leaders and area veterans dedicated a memorial Sunday in honor of the 17 Cantabrigians and 33 Somerville residents who were killed in the Vietnam War.

A sometimes teary-eyed crowd of roughly 1000 watched as the monument--two black marble triangles bearing the fifty names, maps of Vietnam, and the reminder, "we can't forget"--was unveiled in Somerville's Union Square by members of the Somerville/Cambridge Vietnam Veterans Memorial Committee.

"This is like giving birth to a baby," said Joseph Leccese, a truck driver and designer of the monument. Leccese, who served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970, said he started the design a year and a half ago and wanted something simple and elegant with "clean lines."

A military parade was followed by 15 brief speeches by both community members and military officials. Speaker of the House Thomas P. O'Neill (D-Mass.) was scheduled to speak but sent Rep. David E. Bonior (D-Mich.) instead. Bonior is the first Vietnam veteran to be elected to Congress, said master of ceremonies Thomas J. Boyle.

Sad, But Nice

The dedication was "sad but nice, it brings back good memories and said memories," said Ida B. Desjardin, the step-aunt of Timothy J. Lynah, one of the 17 Cantabrigians killed in the war.

Joseph A. Cozza, the president of the Memorial Committee, got the idea to build a memorial in Somerville after visiting the dedication of the highly publicized Vietnam veteran's memorial in Washington, D.C. three years ago.