Posted on 07/03/2004 11:49:28 AM PDT by Sir_Ed
Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall Comes to Grants Pass, Oregon
Last weekend, June 24th-27th, 2004, the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall came to Grants Pass, Oregon. A touching tribute to the over 58,000 fallen heros of the Vietnam War, this Wall is a replica of the one in Washington D.C.
The four days of events included a flyover, bagpipers, speeches by local politicians and veterans, and an awards presentation by representatives of various Indian tribes.
It was sponsored by Point Man Ministries, The Vietnam Veterans of America - Three Rivers Chapter #867, and former Oregon State Senator Brady Adams.
The Wall was open 24 hours a day and people came all throughout the day and night. The crowd was an interesting mix of people. They ranged from current officers in uniform to scruffy bikers to Rambo type hermits covered in tattoos to local and state politicians to middle America. There was a noticable dearth of liberals though. Oh, happy day!
Following are some of the pictures my friend Augusta and I took. (The good ones are hers!) We prefer no one uses them without our permission.
Warning! These pictures take up a lot of bandwidth.
Bagpipers piping in the Color Guard.
Two Vietnam Vets salute the flag as it's raised.
Two F-14's from the Klamath Falls, Oregon, Air Base
perform a flyover just above the trees! It was the lowest
and coolest flyover I have ever seen!
The F-14's come back.
In addition to the flyover and flag raising, representatives
from various Indian Nations gave speeches and performed
different ceremonies.
The Indian at the microphone gave a very moving speech
about the Indian warrior ethos. He said that it is the greatest
privilege for an Indian to give his life fighting for his freedom
and his family. He said, "If we wake up that morning and
know that we are going to die fighting for freedom, then we
say to ourselves, 'Today is a good day to die.' "
He told us that 90% of Indian veterans volunteered for service
and that they hold the highest per capita Congressional Medal
of Honor awards.
It was an incredible speech about freedom, honor and fighting
and dying for what you believe in.
Then representatives from various Indian tribes honored war veterans
in the "Staff of Feathers" Wreath ceremony and handed out Indian
Nation Medals of Valor to several veterans and current military officers.
A roll call of the local veterans who died in Vietnam was then read.
State Representative Gordon Anderson (an excellent rep)
is awarded a Medal of Valor from an Indian Nation
spokesman from Arizona.
One of the moving talks was by a Bataan Death March
survivor, who, along with his wife, was held at a Japanese
P.O.W. camp.
An Indian Nation representative gives a Medal of Valor to
the Bataan Death March survivor as his wife looks on.
The Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall in Riverside Park, Grants Pass, Oregon. There were
also tents set up where people could locate fallen soldiers' names, receive counseling and buy
books and paintings about the Vietnam War. There was also a chapel set up for prayer.
Thank God the ACLU didn't see that!
A local hero whose lower legs were blown off when he
stepped on a landmine receives thanks.
A memorial to fallen Vietnam Vets.
Tributes to loved ones lined the Wall.
A testimonial to Dave Wright, one of the organizers and
speakers at the event, written by his wife. She wrote,
"[Dave] came through Vietnam alive physically, but the
man I knew died on the inside that day in January 1969,"
when everyone in his squad was killed but him. He recently
wrote a book on his experiences.
A friend of a friend of mine was killed in Vietnam while
pulling a wounded soldier to safety. He was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor. His name was Tommy Noonan
and I printed this tribute in honor of his memory.
Tommy's tribute (temporarily taped right under his name).
A close-up of Tommy Noonan's citation. More information on him can be found at
http://www.mishalov.com/Noonan.html
This man was weeping as he read about Tommy Noonan.
Also on display were cots covered with graffiti written by soldiers
as they were transported from America to Vietnam. This one is
from the Navy Ship Pope.
Young boy views the Wall.
Sir_Ed stands at the Wall.
A lot of the people there were bikers from different
groups. These two were from a Christian biker group.
The most moving prayer I heard that weekend was by
a tough, unruly looking biker named Lizard. He
looked like he was friends with Charlie Manson, but
spoke as lovingly about Jesus Christ and His Blood as
Saint Paul.
The Wall was open all night. Here's the memorial to fallen
Vietnam Vets at night.
The Wall at night had a more pensive, somber feel to it than during the day.
At the closing ceremonies, dozens of bikers carrying American flags
took off in four separate columns -- to the East, South, West and North.
The reason why these 58,000+ names adorn this Wall.
This post is in honor of all those who paid the ultimate price
for our freedom.
Thank you.
I also got a kick out of the "last but not least..... "FTA" which was written on one of the cots. I haven't seen that in quite some time now and I'm still laughing.
Thanks.
Thanks, Cagey...I hope everyone who reads it will go to the Wall when it comes to New York next month, and to the other cities it goes to.
It truly is one of the most moving things they will ever experience.
By the way, I'm not a vet, so I don't know what FTA means!!
That was written on SO many of the cots!
The cots, by themselves, spoke volumes. There were drawings, sayings, heart-wrenching poems about girlfriends left behind, man...it was so touching.
Ed
"FTA" was everywhere. The "F" stands for what you probably think it means, and the "TA" stands for "the Army". It was said with love, of course. LOL!
FTA stands for "Federal Tuition Assistance," "Free the Army," or "F*** the Army." Jane Fonda did a show called "FTA" during the Vietnam War.
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