The Chesapeake Veterans Memorial is located directly in front of the City Hall/Chesapeake Municipal Building at 306 Cedar Road. If you wish to see a map to the memorial, click on the "Map to Memorial" button on the home page of this web site.
The Mayor's Commission on Veterans Affairs;is nominally composed of 15 volunteers who are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Mayor. The Commission has three basic goals: (1) To be a knowledge resource for the Mayor and city government regarding issues that may affect veterans; (2) To honor veterans and show public appreciation for those who serve and have served our country and; (3) To manage the Chesapeake Veterans Memorial Fund and oversee the maintenance, repair, and upkeep of the Chesapeake Veterans Memorial.
The memorial was designed by Wayne J. Sarapata, a long time member and former Chairman of the Chesapeake Mayor's Commission on Veterans Affairs. With the artistic assistance of Ms. Tami Koletski of Chesapeake, a conceptual drawing was made and given to Retnauer Designs Associates and Moffat & Nichols Engineering who provided the architectural and engineering expertise needed to finalize the plans. Along with many generous businesses and individuals, there were numerous Commission members whose efforts were pivotal to making the dream a reality. Most noteworthy were the efforts of such men as Ray Hurst, Al Horton, and Craig Vance; all volunteers and 100% patriots.
The Chesapeake Veterans Memorial was funded 100% by voluntary donations. No tax money was used in the construction.
All donations will be used for the continued installation of personalized bronze plaques, maintenance of the memorial, and to support Chesapeake's Veterans programs.
Yes. 100% of all donations to the Chesapeake Veterans Memorial Fund are tax deductible. Upon request, the Veterans Affairs Commission will provide donors a receipt for tax purposes.
There are 4,261 brick pavers/plaques in the memorial. As of November 11, 2015, 1,380 plaques have been installed.
"TO OUR MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE,
GOD BLESS YOU AND THANK YOU.
THE GRATEFUL CITIZENS OF CHESAPEAKE"
While the memorial is dedicated to veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, anyone can order a plaque. Plaques not readily identifiable as honoring a veteran will be placed in a special donor area.
ABSOLUTELY NOT! We strongly recommend purchasing and installing your veterans plaque before they make that transition into their last assignment. Why not show your appreciation and gratitude to your veteran while they are still here to enjoy the thoughtfulness. Who knows, it may even soften the impact of the impending last assignment.
Anyone may order a personalized plaque. Neither the donor nor the honoree must be Chesapeake residents.
Order forms are available at the City Clerk's Office, 6th Floor, City Hall. In addition, order forms can be requested by email from deniserobinson@cox.net.
The Commission can only take checks or money orders by mail. You can pay at the Office of the Mayor, 6th Floor, 306 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA 23322 or you can mail your check and order form to City of Chesapeake Mayors’ Commission on Veterans Affairs, 305 Cedar Road – 6th Floor, Chesapeake, VA 23322.
Plaques for our Veterans Memorial are manufactured by a company located in Oregon. Under normal circumstances it takes from 6 to 8 weeks for receipt of a plaque once the order has been placed. As a general rule of thumb, we strongly recommend that plaques be ordered at least 10 weeks before a desired delivery date. Please keep in mind when ordering a plaque that there is a significant increase in demand for plaques placed on the manufacturer during the months just prior to Memorial Day and Veterans Day that could possibly impact delivery time. Another consideration in regards to delivery time is that the Commission generally will wait until they have a minimum of five plaque requests before making an order. This procedure is in place to save on shipping charges. Regardless of the number of plaque requests, an order is submitted monthly.
The most common error that we see is trying to place too many characters on a line. The engraving process allows for three lines with eighteen characters per line. The order form has been designed with only 18 blocks because that is the maximum number of characters or spaces that can be inscribed on each line of the plaque. Trying to put more than one letter, number, space, or punctuation mark in a block will only delay your order until a member of the Veterans Commission can contact you to resolve the error. The Commission does not recommend running together names or words to save space as it makes the finished plaque difficult to read. If you require assistance or suggestions in completing your order form, we are happy to help; just contact any Commission member listed on the roster page of this web site or Denise Robinson at 757-515-0123 or email at deniserobinson@cox.net.
Whenever possible, plaques ordered by a donor are placed together. The Commission will make every effort to honor special requests to place specific plaques together. To make a special request, simply write your request on the bottom of your order form. If there is a problem with your request, a Commission member will contact you prior to ordering your plaque.
The Veterans Affairs Commission will make every effort to contact the donor upon receipt of their plaque based on the contact information provided on the order form. If your plaque request is a surprise for the recipient and you wish to limit correspondence to a certain person or by email etc., just write a statement to that effect on your order form. Upon receipt of your plaque from the manufacturer, we will offer you three options for installation: (1) Personal installs which are great photo opportunities. These are very informal and usually take about 15 minutes. We are very flexible and can schedule this just about any time, weather permitting of course. (2) Installation during one of our formal ceremonies; Memorial Day and Veterans Day. The formal ceremonies provide the best photo opportunities due to the flowers, flags and uniforms. The number of plaques we can install during formal ceremonies is limited by time constraints. The sooner you inform us of your desire for a formal ceremony install, the better chances for a reserved spot. You can also write this request on your order form upon submission. You will be called if your reservation to place your plaque at the formal ceremony can be accommodated. (3) If you do not desire a ceremony, a member from the commission will place your plaque at our next regular installation. You can verify the location of your plaque at this website. Just click on “Locate a Plaque” on the Veterans Memorial home page or contact the Veterans Commission directly.
There is a listing of plaque inscriptions indexed by the last name on the plaque. This index is available for viewing online: Locate a Plaque
A weatherized stand for the index near the Veterans Memorial is planned for the future. An order form to purchase a plaque is available at the City Hall Information Desk.
Chesapeake Veterans Memorial POC is Commissioner Paul Phelps. He can be reached at 757-633-5994 or by email at paulphelps@cox.net. You may also telephone the Chesapeake Mayor's office at 757-382-6151 or you may write to the Mayor's Commission on Veterans Affairs, 306 Cedar Road, Chesapeake, VA 23322.
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