The Hays Chapter 939 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, assisted by the Hays American Legion Post 173 and the American Legion Riders, will dedicate a memorial to Richard Coffelt at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Hays Regional Airport terminal.

This event will be in conjunction with the Airport Fly-in that day. The public is invited to attend.

Coffelt was a local attorney, educator and Korean War veteran who created the authoritative and official record of the 58,220 U.S. military members who died in the Vietnam War. From 1980 through 2010, Coffelt compiled this information on his own time and at his own expense to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War.

The Coffelt Data Base is now maintained by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration in Washington.

Speakers will include Jo Ann Jennings Coffelt, Coffelt’s widow, and Hays Mayor Eber Phelps. For more information on the Coffelt Data Base, go to http://coffeltdatabase.org/.