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Louisville Councilman and Vietnam Veterans Lead $115,000 Restoration of Dixie Highway Memorial
Councilman Jonathan Joseph and two local Vietnam veterans are restoring the Kentucky First Vietnam Memorial on Dixie Highway, using $115,000 in Metro funds to repair landscaping, a bell, and a sound system ahead of a Memorial Day 2027 target.
A southwestern Louisville councilman and two Vietnam veterans are working to restore a half-century-old war memorial on Dixie Highway, aiming to have the site fully refurbished by Memorial Day next year.
The Kentucky First Vietnam Memorial, which has stood for more than 50 years, bears the names of 206 servicemen from Jefferson County killed in the Vietnam War. A separate slab nearby honors three men who were never found.
Over the decades, upkeep has lagged. Placards have yellowed, and a bell that once tolled has fallen silent.
"We don't want to let memorials get to the level that we're not proud of them, that they don't speak well for those of us that survived and for future generations," said Bill Wetter, one of the veterans leading the effort.
Wetter and Greg Bethards, both leaders in the local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Association, stepped in to change that. Bethards was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in Vietnam as a maintenance weapons specialist before becoming a combat engineer in the reserves; he retired as a command sergeant major after 26 years. Wetter served in the Army National Guard as an artillery specialist during the war and, though never sent to Vietnam, is recognized as a Vietnam veteran.
Councilman Jonathan Joseph joined the pair, directing $115,000 from Metro Government toward landscaping and a working sound system. A new fence and a fully restored bell are planned in the coming months.
"When you forget to take care of things like this, oftentimes it's a reflection," Joseph said. "And we don't want that to be how the South End remembers our veterans. We want to respect them, those that lost their lives in Vietnam. But also, we want to respect the veterans that are still here today."
The bell now strikes every hour, a sound that resonates with the veterans' own sense of service. For John Wagner, a U.S. Navy gunner's mate and Vietnam veteran, the restoration carries deep meaning.
"It's sad but it makes you happy that they are doing something to say, 'Hey, these guys didn't die for nothing,'" Wagner said. "We didn't die for nothing."
The memorial was established in 1972 by the family of a soldier killed in action, first placed on a local church lawn before being moved to the Southwest Government Center property where it sits today.
Much work remains, but Joseph hopes the entire site will be restored by Memorial Day 2027.