Last night my dad and I drove out to Elkhorn, Nebraska to see The Moving Wall. Recognized as the only true replica of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C., the Moving Wall is a perfect half-size copy of the actual memorial. A little background on the Moving Wall, it is 252.83 feet long and stands six feet in height at the vertex. It is made of aluminum with a surface painted using a two-part polyurethane gloss black. There are 58,253 names on the Wall with 395 names from Nebraska and over 850 names from Iowa.As we initially made our way up to the wall, my dad was stopped by another Navy man who saw my dad's black USS Oriskany ballcap. The gentleman had been on an escort ship for the USS Kearsarge and he instantly shared with my dad his appreciation of the Oriskany. My dad always gets a big smile on his face when he talks with someone about the Oriskany. They both agreed that it was a shame that the "Mighty O" had been sunk. We took a few minutes to orient ourselves to the design of the Wall and how it is laid out. We were soon able to start finding the names of some Omaha men on the Wall as well as several Oriskany sailors and pilots whose names we had written down. Some of the names that we looked for were Frank Elkins, Norman Roggow, Charles Boggs and Harry Juntilla from the Oriskany, and James Fous and Miguel Keith, both from Omaha and both Medal of Honor recipients. I was also able to find John Geoghegan and Willie Godboldt, soldiers of the 7th Cavalry Regt. who died in the Ia Drang Valley in November 1965 and are located next to each other on the Wall.
The above photo is from Panel 11E which records the names of most of the Oriskany men who perished from the October 26, 1966 fire. We had a list of all 44 men and looked for them toward the bottom of this panel.
Shown in the center of the above photo is the name of Norman L. Roggow. He is the Oriskany pilot whose body was recently returned to his family in Le Mars, Iowa. I posted some more information about him on this blog back in February.
We did rubbings for several of the names to take home as momentos. The name of CDR Harry W. Juntilla was on the top line of Panel 12E, so I had to get a step ladder to reach it. CDR Juntilla was the head of CIC on the Oriskany when my dad was aboard. His name is shown at the top of the above photo with the clouds reflecting from above. When I got down and handed my dad the rubbing for CDR Juntilla, he got somewhat emotional and had to take a few steps back. It kind of catches me by surprise sometimes... these emotions are real feelings that I myself have never had to experience, the loss of a comrade or friend. For someone like me born in 1975, these are the names of the men and women who have died in service to our country. But for those who lived through those times, these are their friends, brothers, husbands, and sons. I can easily see how some of the feelings experienced at the Wall can become overwhelming.
I thought this was a touching photo that I took of a visitor reading the names on the Wall. It was just a simple, heart-felt moment that I was fortunate enough to be observing from a distance.At 8:00P.M., all 395 names from the state of Nebraska were read aloud for those in attendance to hear, names that the Wall knows all too well. We listened in silence as the list of those both remembered and forgotten rolled on, minute by minute, and town by town. After the last name was called, a lone bugler ended the night with a soft and sorrowful rendition of 'Taps". It was a touching moment that I will not soon forget. As the wall darkened with the onset of night, my dad and I headed home as our night came to an end. I felt very fortunate to be able to see the Moving Wall that night and to be able to share in some memories and some stories of Vietnam with my father.
