Posted on 10/17/2008 2:44:57 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Delafield, WI - Jeanette Dow and John Phillip Kronschnabel Jr. peer at a black wall containing name after name of fallen soldiers, their index fingers sliding over them in search of two men from Black River Falls who died in the Vietnam War.
Dow, of Sullivan, knew the men and their parents. When she heard that the Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., was coming to Delafield, she and her grandson, Kronschnabel, decided to visit it Thursday to pay tribute to the two soldiers and honor the other men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
Like the memorial in the nation's capital, the traveling wall contains the names of 58,260 killed or missing in action in the Vietnam War. Of those, 1,161 were from Wisconsin.
After a few minutes, Dow and Kronschnabel find the name of Steven Ott on one panel and move on to another, where they find Roger Goldsmith's.
"I think it's very neat. We went out to Washington, D.C., five years ago and it was just amazing to see this entire wall spread out," said Kronschnabel, 18, of Dousman.
Dow said the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Moving Wall help give soldiers who died in the war and Vietnam vets respect they did not always receive during the unpopular war and soon after it was over.
As she looked at the sea of names on the 250-foot-long wall, Dow's thoughts turned to the wars being fought today.
"It gives you a dose of reality," she said of the wall. "I want to know what they are going to do with the ones who were killed in Iraq."
The Moving Wall, which has been touring the country since 1984, will be on display through 4 p.m. Monday at the Fish Hatchery grounds, 425 Main St., Delafield, about a block west of Highway C. The memorial, one of two wall replicas that tour the country, will be open 24 hours a day and free.
The Delafield American Legion Post 196 brought the memorial to Delafield, and many of the post's Delafield Veterans Days events over the weekend will be centered around the wall. The 10:30 a.m. Veterans Day Parade on Saturday will end at the Moving Wall, where a "missing man formation" flyover will occur at 11 a.m.
Organizers expect at least 20,000 people to visit the traveling wall.
The Moving Wall rolled into town on a pickup truck and trailer Thursday morning, escorted by about a dozen motorcycle riders who are members of the District 1 American Legion Riders Association of Wisconsin.
The riders, all veterans, also helped erect the wall.
"There's almost 59,000 names on that wall, and most of us are Vietnam vets. It's simply an honor just to be able to bring it in," said Frank Konieska of Burlington, the district president.
Cindy Krueger, director of Delafield Veterans Days, saw the Moving Wall in Brookfield two years ago and decided then to bring it to Delafield to honor soldiers and as an educational experience.
"As it was being set up, a worker overheard a couple ask someone to take a picture of them next to their son's name. This was the reason to bring it here. So many people want to see it but can't get to Washington, D.C.," Krueger said.
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Thanks Diana in Wisconsin. A rare modern history ping. |
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It was here in 1999, a block away from where I lived. I wanted to see it but I had lost too many people to visit it. I have no clue how folks can go to DC and see the Wall in person. I was devastated.
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