History | lz-peace-new-site

It took 22 years to complete and it'll be here for a long, long time.

Ceremonial bell rung

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Ceremonial bell rung

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The History.

How It All Happened.

Joe Falzone, above left, and Nick Parnello, above right, two young soldiers from Rockford, met while in Plekiu, South Vietnam in 1969, and they vowed to meet for supper if and when they ever made it back home. They did and here's the rest of the story.

This led to the creation of the Vietnam Veteran's Supper Club where Vietnam veterans got together once a month for supper and fellowship. They met every month at Maria's Italian Restaurant until Maria's closed on December 31, 2013. They have now relocated to Lino's Restaurant on E. State St. in Rockford.

In 1982 his led to the creation of a veterans group they named VietNow. It has grown into a national organization with about 40 chapters throughout the country.

Shortly after the formation of VietNow, Parnello and Falzone came to the conclusion that there was a need for another organization – an organization that would pay special tribute to those from Winnebago County who had died in Vietnam or were among the missing.

They joined forces with three other Vietnam veterans from Rockford – Tony Bove, Paul Cassioppi and Tony Circelli – to form the Vietnam Veterans Honor Society.

The Vietnam Veteran's Honor Society, founded in 1989 in Rockford, Illinois, honors veterans who served and who have helped other veterans since the Vietnam War.

The long-time project of the Vietnam Veterans Honor Society, the LZ Peace Memorial, was dedicated on Memorial Day 2005. The Wall of Honor with a genuine, flown-in Vietnam, Huey helicopter rests above the Wall of Honor on a 5 acre tract at the Midway Village Museum campus.

Keep scrolling down to see more wide-angle pictures of the memorial during construction.

The LZ Peace Memorial is a lasting tribute to those who died in Vietnam, and a place to honor all veterans who served our country.

After years of work, the LZ Peace Memorial is still short of its long-term building goals. Your contribution at this crucial time will ensure that those who served and died in Vietnam will not be forgotten.

You can donate to the Rockford Park District specifying your donation for the LZ Peace Memorial

Thank you.

NOTE: Joe Falzone died in January 2014. Here's a link to an outside website with a story about Joe and his funeral. It opens a new window.

Our great architect, Jim Lev with the foreman from Scandroli Construction Company go over the blueprints

Nick Parnello, one of the founders of the Vietnam Veterans Honor Society and a friend inspect the site.

Jim Lev, the architect for the LZ Peace Memorial gets mud on his boots checking to make sure everything is the way he designed it. Jim is currenty a Vice President at Hagney Architects in Rockford, Illinois.

The back of the wall with concrete forms being put in place. Every day we get closer to pouring concrete. This view would be like where the Heuy helipopter rests. The grassy area is to the south of the memorial.

Here we see the forms for the concrete looking into the "Vee-shaped" memorial. The Huey is where the bulldover is in the picture. Also you can see Central Christian Church at the upper left. The first Saturday in September they sponsor a car show. Stop on out and see cars for the Vietnam War era. Thanks.

At the official LZ Peace groundbreaking a few years ago, family members and friends of those who died in Vietnam gathered at the memorial site, bringing with them broken hearts and Purple Hearts. The broken hearts are from the painful loss of a son or daughter during the Vietnam War. The Purple Hearts were given to them by our government, honoring those loved ones for their wounds or dearth. Those hearts are now a part of the Memorial Wall. The families placed them in the wall as the foundation was being poured. It was a very healing moment. ----Nick Parnello's comments

Thanks to the Scandroli Construction Co. and IBEW 364 and the companies for all the hard work they put into making the LZ Peace Memorial a beautiful tribute to the Winnebago county veterans who died, but also for all our veterans, in peace and in war. Many of those who built this memorial to our fallen veterans were veterans themselves and knew many of the heroes whose name are written on the wall. Honor and revere them and their unfailing service to the United States of America.

Getting closer to completion. The LZ Peace Memorial took many years of planning, getting sponsors, and donations. As we see it today we can be proud and grateful to all the friends of our who gave of their time and money to building this tribute to America's veterans. Thank you all for a job well done..