More than 100 people gathered at Dorchester’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Monday morning to recite the names of 80 service members from Dorchester who lost their lives in service to their country during the war in Vietnam.

Ed Pimental, who served as master of ceremonies, noted it was the 36th annual Memorial Day event at the Morrissey Boulevard memorial since it was dedicated on peaceful spot of land overlooking Dorchester Bay.

Above: Khang Nguyen, of the Vietnamese American Community of Massachusetts, with South Vietnamese veterans Ro Pham and An Tran. Seth Daniel photo

Many Gold Star families attended, as did numerous Vietnam veterans and representatives of the neighborhood veteran’s posts. As Richard Dobbyn and Frank Cahill read off the 80 names of those from Dorchester who lost their lives in Vietnam, carnations were placed for each name at the foot of the granite memorial.

Jordan Mitchell led the crowd in the ‘Pledge of Allegiance,’ and the National Anthem was played, followed by the South Vietnamese National Anthem, and ‘God Bless America.’ The exercises concluded with ‘Taps’ as the silent crowd looked upon the 80 names etched in the Memorial’s stone base.

New flags at the Memorial have been put in place this year by the Griffin family in memory of Thomas Griffin, and a new weeping willow tree has been planted in memory of the late Joe Zinck, a founding member of the Dorchester Vietnam Veterans Memorial who died in 2019.

Above, Lisa Zinck, Diane Zinck, Mia McCarthy, Denis McCarthy, Chloe McCarthy, and Stacie McCarthy pose in front of the new weeping willow tree planted on the ground of the Dorchester Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated to the late Joe Zinck, who passed away in 2019. He was a Vietnam Veteran and a founding member of the Memorial Committee. Seth Daniel photo

Dorchester Vietnam Veterans and Gold Star families posed for a photo in front of the Memorial after the 36th annual Memorial Day exercises. Seth Daniel photo

Above, Mia McCarthy lays down a red carnation for one of the lost soldiers from Dorchester during the reading of the names. Seth Daniel photo