Russellville has been selected as one of the 33 host sites for the official traveling exhibit of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The memorial, a 375-foot replica standing at 7.5 feet high, will unfold from a 53-foot trailer, providing a unique opportunity for the community to connect with the history of the Vietnam War.
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I remember when the Moving Wall came to Modesto, my dad called me up and asked if I'd take him to visit it. I said sure, no problem even though I thought it was strange he wanted me to take him instead of him driving himself. I asked what time, and he said 0300 the next day.
Three in the fucking morning? "Why so early?" I asked.
"Because I don't want to be around a bunch of kids and women when I go."
He wasn't the only one. We got there and there must've been 100 older men, no kids and only a handful of women standing respectfully off to the side while their men remembered and wept.
Slow salute.
ReplyDeleteWhen it came to our town I didn't think I would become emotional. When walking along side, I randomly stopped, looked at eye level and spotted a name on the wall with my last name, no relation at all but silently wept. What are the odds that I would stop at this young man's name? I still think about it all the time. Hybo
ReplyDeleteI was at the memorial in DC ~2007 or thereabouts. I'd read the 'ditch in the ground' articles about how it was not a good work to honor those lost. So I had preconceived notions up front. That structure is eat up with a solemn weight you'd have to be soul dead not to feel. I had some names from men I knew to look for. Found them. Ran my fingers on the ones within reach. I wasn't the only one doing that.
ReplyDeleteI probably ain't the guy to ask about art and aesthetics. But that monument has a power that is palatable. And isn't that what art is actually supposed to do? Just an old redneck musing here, pay no mind.
Yes. I felt it too. I don't believe in Bigfoot, haunts, little green men or any other pipe dreams but there is SOMETHING at that wall. Been there twice. Felt the same thing both times. Shook me to my core. The artist got it somehow. People who think the dead never come back to life have never been there and seen the name of somebody they served with. Scoff if you want, but Lowell knows.
DeleteOnly seen the moving wall once. It had an effect but not as strong. Took Mrs. with me. Seeing the names I knew helped her understand some things that I never could explain to her. There it is.
Visited the DC wall in '85 & '96, movable, sometime in there. Touching to see the mementos left at a names' panel. Interesting that the portable one tries to bring "local" items for display.
DeleteI got up one morning and said to the wife, wanna go for a ride? She said no. I got in the car and drove to the Wall. Probably a two hour drive. I hung out for about one hell of a heavy half an hour and left with tears running down my face. No idea why or what made me do it. Maybe a mission, I dunno. It just came out of the clear blue.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I visited the Wall That Heals when it was at Spartanburg in November. Very moving indeed. My father did two tours in Vietnam; it took a while before he was willing to visit the Wall in D.C., but he was glad when he did.
ReplyDeleteI took my dad to the DC wall about 1996. he couldn't go in. he stopped at the entrance and said he didn't want to see a name he knew. there were a few guys there from the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club. they told me to go on, they got this. they sat on a bench near the Women's Memorial and talked to him. I guess he felt better about it, but he still didn't go in, and I knew not to ask him about it.
ReplyDeleteMany many years ago I was in the AmeriCorps program. When it came to a nearby town they needed volunteers to keep an eye on it overnight. I worked the very early morning (I think it started at 3am) shift and still recall people showing up to view it at that time. -sammy
ReplyDeleteThe moving wall came to White Cloud, Michigan quite some time ago. I tried to make myself go, but in the end, I just couldn't. I never served in the military, but I knew a lot of people who did, and many that were also in Vietnam.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I seldom let anyone know is that inside, I have the heart of a big baby. I can handle some things without batting an eye, but for things like a child dying of cancer, or a young man or woman who served our country and gave their life for it, I turn into a mess both inside and out. So when it came to within 12 miles of my hometown, I had to just take a few minutes of time to set and reflect on things, by myself.
And I still cannot forgive people like Hanoi Jane who did what she did, with no penalty to herself whatsoever. Perhaps when she dies, if she left all of her millions to military charities, I could change my mind. But that seems unlikely, since she is still a liberal POS.
The Moving Wall is "nice" but the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, is the one to visit. It is very - very special.
ReplyDeleteI saw the Moving Wall in Gulfport MS and in Dacula GA. I have also been to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington. I have a cousin listed on the walls.
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