Report from the Show-Me Hero Salute site of the AVTT Traveling Wall – Friday, June 14, Flag Day
The Vietnam Memorial Wall reminds us what war is about — people
Blog Post/Reflection by Megan Favignano
St. Louis County Executive and Vietnam Veteran Charles Dooley went to Vietnam to fight when he was 18 years old. During the war, he said they played cards almost every day. He said one day you would play cards with someone and the next day they would be gone. No one talked about it, but everyone knew why they were gone.
Dooley was the keynote speaker at the June 14 Traveling Vietnam Wall program. He talked a lot about what the Vietnam War was about.
“It was a fight for freedom,” Dooley said to the crowd gathered at the wall.
That may be what the war was, but seeing the wall reminded me why the Vietnam War matters — it’s about people. People lost their lives. People fought. People took risks. People were brave. People lost loved ones. The war may have been a fight for freedom, but it was all about people.
That was clear as I walked along side the wall.
I watched as one man wearing a red Marine Corps hat ran his fingers down the list of names etched on the black stone. He kneeled to the ground as he followed his fingers down the row of names. His hand stopped close to the bottom of the row. He kneeled on the hot parking lot black top with his hand on the wall and stared. He wiped a few tears out of his eyes before walking away.
The Vietnam war was and is about the people who sacrificed for the freedom of others.
That can be forgotten when you learn about the Vietnam War in school. Textbooks focus on the conflicts, tactics and outcomes. They teach you the facts. They don’t always put emphasis on the people.
When you stand in front of the wall and see all of the names, people is all you think about. It’s all I thought about.
Written above the names on the wall was, “The price of freedom is written on the wall.” All of the names on the wall (more than 58,000 on the entire wall in Washington D.C.), that is the price of our freedom.
Overwhelming.
That is how Anne Allred, KSDK-TV anchor and the master of ceremonies for the June 14 program, described the wall. Allred is also the daughter of a Vietnam War veteran.
“It’s overwhelming to see all of those names,” Allred said during her opening remarks.
Overwhelming — that word came to my mind when I first saw the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. on a high school trip. It came to my mind again as I walked along the American Veteran Traveling Tribute (AVTT) Traveling Wall as it sat in Lindbergh High School’s parking lot.
I looked at all of the names of people who lost their lives in the name of freedom. I watched as people left gifts along the wall for loved ones they lost.
The traveling wall allows people who may not be able to make it to D.C. to touch the names of those loved ones they lost. It also provides the opportunity for those who only know what they have read in a textbook to understand the importance of the people involved.
Honoring. Respecting. Remembering.
Show-Me Hero Salute invites you to join in this special event,
June 12-16, 2013.
Escort starts at 3:00 pm, Wednesday, June 12.
Viewing starts at 1:00 pm, Thursday, June 13, ends at 3:00 pm, Sunday, June 16.
AVTT Traveling Wall display and programs both are at Lindbergh High School.
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