thedrifter
04-26-08, 07:18 AM
Moving Wall draws veterans, families
By Alysa Landry The Daily Times
Article Launched: 04/26/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
BLOOMFIELD — Every soldier has a story.
Some, like Eddie Stankevich, never get to tell it.
Stankevich served in the Marines during the Vietnam War, but his tour of duty lasted less than two months. Stankevich drowned in December 1968 at age 19. His cousin, Vietnam veteran Tom Kubishin, of Farmington, never got to meet him.
"I came home on leave, and he had just gone over," Kubishin said. "The only time I ever saw him was at his funeral."
Kubishin, 59, got a second chance to talk to his cousin Friday at the Moving Wall exhibit in Bloomfield. The wall is a half-size, mobile replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Two portable versions of the national memorial have toured the nation since 1984.
Kubishin found Stankevich among the more than 58,000 names of American men and women who died in Vietnam or who were missing in action.
"I didn't really think it would make a difference seeing his name on here, but it does," he said. "It's kind of a hard day."
Kubishin was one of hundreds of veterans, dignitaries and community members who attended Friday's opening ceremonies at the Moving Wall. The exhibit is open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Monday. Organizers expect as many as 20,000 people to visit the memorial this weekend at Chamblee Park, 700 S. First St.
"There are people who will never see the memorial in Washington, D.C.," said Ken Nava, spokesman for the New Mexico Army National Guard. "This is a portable version to help people appreciate the actual memorial, so they can pay solemn reverence to the people who served in the war."
Although the individual soldiers won't tell their stories, the memorial tells the tale of a highly political war and its casualties. America was involved in the conflict for 13 years, and many soldiers were not welcomed home.
Sixty percent of those who died were under 21, said John Garcia, cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services. The average soldier's age was 18 or 19, he said, and those who survived encountered great difficulties after returning home.
"Vietnam was a painful experience," he said.
B.J. Lawrence, department commander for the New Mexico Veterans of Foreign Wars, urged people to forget the politics and honor the men and women who paid the ultimate price to serve their country.
"There were hard choices and hard decisions to make in the 1960s and '70s," he said. "We need to honor those who died and did not come home, but we also need to honor those that did come home, but were broken in body and spirit."
Alysa Landry:
alandry@daily-times.com
Ellie
By Alysa Landry The Daily Times
Article Launched: 04/26/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
BLOOMFIELD — Every soldier has a story.
Some, like Eddie Stankevich, never get to tell it.
Stankevich served in the Marines during the Vietnam War, but his tour of duty lasted less than two months. Stankevich drowned in December 1968 at age 19. His cousin, Vietnam veteran Tom Kubishin, of Farmington, never got to meet him.
"I came home on leave, and he had just gone over," Kubishin said. "The only time I ever saw him was at his funeral."
Kubishin, 59, got a second chance to talk to his cousin Friday at the Moving Wall exhibit in Bloomfield. The wall is a half-size, mobile replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Two portable versions of the national memorial have toured the nation since 1984.
Kubishin found Stankevich among the more than 58,000 names of American men and women who died in Vietnam or who were missing in action.
"I didn't really think it would make a difference seeing his name on here, but it does," he said. "It's kind of a hard day."
Kubishin was one of hundreds of veterans, dignitaries and community members who attended Friday's opening ceremonies at the Moving Wall. The exhibit is open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Monday. Organizers expect as many as 20,000 people to visit the memorial this weekend at Chamblee Park, 700 S. First St.
"There are people who will never see the memorial in Washington, D.C.," said Ken Nava, spokesman for the New Mexico Army National Guard. "This is a portable version to help people appreciate the actual memorial, so they can pay solemn reverence to the people who served in the war."
Although the individual soldiers won't tell their stories, the memorial tells the tale of a highly political war and its casualties. America was involved in the conflict for 13 years, and many soldiers were not welcomed home.
Sixty percent of those who died were under 21, said John Garcia, cabinet secretary for the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services. The average soldier's age was 18 or 19, he said, and those who survived encountered great difficulties after returning home.
"Vietnam was a painful experience," he said.
B.J. Lawrence, department commander for the New Mexico Veterans of Foreign Wars, urged people to forget the politics and honor the men and women who paid the ultimate price to serve their country.
"There were hard choices and hard decisions to make in the 1960s and '70s," he said. "We need to honor those who died and did not come home, but we also need to honor those that did come home, but were broken in body and spirit."
Alysa Landry:
alandry@daily-times.com
Ellie