thedrifter
09-10-09, 09:24 AM
The things they left behind: Replica of Vietnam War memorial travels with objects of meaning
Lindstrom, Minn., is host to 'Wall That Heals' this week
By Mary Divine
mdivine@pioneerpress.com
TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
Updated:09/09/2009 12:07:10 AM CDT
The things left behind: a pack of cigarettes, a snapshot of young Marines in combat gear and a 45 rpm record of Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay'' sealed in a plastic bag.
These are among the mementos dropped off at the Wall That Heals, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial traveling from Washington, D.C., to locations across the nation.
It arrived in Lindstrom, Minn., with a police escort on Tuesday afternoon and will be open to the public from Thursday through Sunday.
Richard "Gunny" Lyons is the wall's site manager and a Vietnam vet. He said visitors to the wall — which most recently was in Massachusetts — also leave MIA bracelets, letters, cans of rations, graduation pictures, flowers and flags. All these mementos are collected and brought back to Washington.
"Most of all, they leave a little bit of hope," he said. "They leave a bit of hope that someday we will find those who are still missing — those who didn't come back." More than 1,760 servicemen are still missing in Vietnam, Lyons said.
The memorial bears the names of 58,261 servicemen and women who died in the war. The fallen — whose names are listed chronologically by date of death — include 1,072 from Minnesota.
"It's overwhelming when you see just how many people died," he said. "People know about Vietnam, and they come out and they look, but they don't actually realize how many names are on it until they see it."
The 250-foot wall is a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and will be open from sunup Thursday to sundown on Sunday — 24 hours a day — at the Chisago Lakes High School ball field in Lindstrom.
"It gives people a chance to visit friends and family — people they knew who died in Vietnam," Lyons said. "They wrote a check to our government saying that I'm willing to give my life for this country, and unfortunately, it had to be cashed."
Dan Lundberg, chairman of the Wall That Heals committee, said he, Ken Harmon and John Broecker came up with the idea of bringing the wall to Lindstrom about a year ago.
Lundberg, a retired minister, was involved in bringing a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to Newcastle, Pa., in 1998, he said. "I had dreamed of it coming here (to Minnesota) for a number of years," he said. "I was able to experience the powerful impact that it had on a community. The Vietnam War was so divisive, and this wall is so healing."
Lundberg said he was a senior in high school when the draft ended in the spring of 1973. "I grew up during the Vietnam era. I watched the chaos and the division and all the wounds," he said. "I watched our soldiers come home and be literally spit on, and it broke my heart, even as a teenager."
A memorial service will be held at the wall at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"The beauty of the wall is that, regardless of your politics, it's about a love of men for their country, a love of men who paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for each other," Lundberg said. "It's about sacrifice. A lot of men didn't want to be there, and yet they paid the ultimate price."
Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443.
Ellie
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site569/2009/0908/20090908__090909wall%202nd.jpg
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site569/2009/0908/20090908__090909wall4th.jpg
Lindstrom, Minn., is host to 'Wall That Heals' this week
By Mary Divine
mdivine@pioneerpress.com
TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
Updated:09/09/2009 12:07:10 AM CDT
The things left behind: a pack of cigarettes, a snapshot of young Marines in combat gear and a 45 rpm record of Otis Redding's "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay'' sealed in a plastic bag.
These are among the mementos dropped off at the Wall That Heals, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial traveling from Washington, D.C., to locations across the nation.
It arrived in Lindstrom, Minn., with a police escort on Tuesday afternoon and will be open to the public from Thursday through Sunday.
Richard "Gunny" Lyons is the wall's site manager and a Vietnam vet. He said visitors to the wall — which most recently was in Massachusetts — also leave MIA bracelets, letters, cans of rations, graduation pictures, flowers and flags. All these mementos are collected and brought back to Washington.
"Most of all, they leave a little bit of hope," he said. "They leave a bit of hope that someday we will find those who are still missing — those who didn't come back." More than 1,760 servicemen are still missing in Vietnam, Lyons said.
The memorial bears the names of 58,261 servicemen and women who died in the war. The fallen — whose names are listed chronologically by date of death — include 1,072 from Minnesota.
"It's overwhelming when you see just how many people died," he said. "People know about Vietnam, and they come out and they look, but they don't actually realize how many names are on it until they see it."
The 250-foot wall is a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and will be open from sunup Thursday to sundown on Sunday — 24 hours a day — at the Chisago Lakes High School ball field in Lindstrom.
"It gives people a chance to visit friends and family — people they knew who died in Vietnam," Lyons said. "They wrote a check to our government saying that I'm willing to give my life for this country, and unfortunately, it had to be cashed."
Dan Lundberg, chairman of the Wall That Heals committee, said he, Ken Harmon and John Broecker came up with the idea of bringing the wall to Lindstrom about a year ago.
Lundberg, a retired minister, was involved in bringing a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to Newcastle, Pa., in 1998, he said. "I had dreamed of it coming here (to Minnesota) for a number of years," he said. "I was able to experience the powerful impact that it had on a community. The Vietnam War was so divisive, and this wall is so healing."
Lundberg said he was a senior in high school when the draft ended in the spring of 1973. "I grew up during the Vietnam era. I watched the chaos and the division and all the wounds," he said. "I watched our soldiers come home and be literally spit on, and it broke my heart, even as a teenager."
A memorial service will be held at the wall at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"The beauty of the wall is that, regardless of your politics, it's about a love of men for their country, a love of men who paid the ultimate sacrifice fighting for each other," Lundberg said. "It's about sacrifice. A lot of men didn't want to be there, and yet they paid the ultimate price."
Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443.
Ellie
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site569/2009/0908/20090908__090909wall%202nd.jpg
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site569/2009/0908/20090908__090909wall4th.jpg