PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Vietnam War Era Author Praises Effort to Bring Traveling Memorial Wall to St. Louis Area in June
This June, the American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT) Vietnam Wall will find its way to the St. Louis region via a location at Lindbergh High School in South County. St. Louis native Grady Smith, a Vietnam War veteran and author of a celebrated novel about the conflict in Southeast Asia, says a visit to the Wall can be an invaluable experience for Americans of all generations.
“I can’t tell you how important the traveling Wall is,” said Smith. “The first time I saw it, I expected to be disappointed, because it is not to scale of the actual Wall in Washington, D.C. But I wasn’t – not at all. Every one of those more than 58,000 names is on the traveling Wall and represents someone who died in battle.
“The truth of what the traveling Wall means is in the responses of every person who visits it,” added Smith. “A visitor doesn’t need to have a relative or friend’s name on the Wall – we’re all affected by this huge national loss because we’re all Americans. And it’s particularly important for young people to see what any war means to the country and to those who are left behind – the losses of the Vietnam War and their emotional aftermath give important context to Gulf One, Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Smith said he is hopeful that young people will visit the traveling Wall. He said a visit should impress upon them that all wars come with enormous national and personal costs, and should only be launched under the direst circumstances.
The traveling wall event for St. Louis will begin with an escort on Wednesday, June 12, and is being organized by a groups known as Show-Me Hero Salute. The traveling Wall will have listed hours of operation daily, but the wall will be available for visitation 24 hours a day until the closing ceremony ends at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 16.
Smith has published a novel based on his own Vietnam War experiences called, “Blood Chit.” will discuss his novel “Blood Chit” Wednesday, April 24, 7 p.m. at the Kirkwood Public Library. The library and Friends of the Kirkwood Public Library are co-sponsoring the presentation and it is free and open to the public.
The first half of the novel is set in war-torn Vietnam. St. Louis is the venue for the second half as the protagonist tries to cope with the aftermath of “one firefight too many in the Nam Delta.” The novel was recently nominated in the fiction category for the 16th Annual Library of Virginia Literary Awards. Smith, a graduate of Bishop DuBourg High School, now lives in Arlington, Virginia.
“I have to say that the drive to write seems to be universal among vets of all wars,” said Smith. “I participated in a writing seminar under the umbrella of Operation Homecoming, a project that’s been out there for well over five years now – funded by the NEA and Boeing. Our seminar had a naval aviator from World War II, a grunt from Korea, a female intel NCO just back from Afghanistan and we covered the collective military experience of the nation for the past 60 years.
“The writing experience and seminar are great therapy,” added Smith. “One of the insidious aspects of Post-Traumatic Syndrome (PTSD) is its chronic isolation and entrapment in past experiences. But this writing exercise joins three or four generations together and it’s a powerful dynamic for disempowering that killer isolation.”
An important part of the traveling Wall experience is also to break down isolation among Vietnam War veterans. The Wall brings them together and also allows other Americans to let the Vets know that their service and sacrifice have not been forgotten.
For more information on the Show-Me Hero Salute activities, please contact: Morris L. “Butch” Thomas, chairman, 314-849-2234 or by email: Morris.Thomas@att.net; or publicity contact GeGe Mix at 636-394-6677 or by email: gegemix@charter.net.
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Honoring. Respecting. Remembering.
Show-Me Hero Salute
June 12-16, 2013
Arrival and escort, 3:00 pm June 12
Viewing starts 1:00 pm June 13, ends 3:00 pm June 16
