O.K. not the actual Vietnam Wall, in Washington D.C., but a travelling Wall; right here in Piedmont, Oklahoma. Apparently, there are several of these, privately financed walls. This one is sponsered by Dignity Memorial, a national association of affiliated funeral homes. Anyway, this is a big deal for Piedmont; and bringing it here has required a lot of effort from local business people, and from those civic minded people who volunteer for things. I would like to report on the activities so far. The wall rolled into town on Wednesday night. In a semi-truck, followed by an escort of motorcycle riders. The motorcycle procession was really something. There were about 500 riders, mostly old. There was a lot of gray hair, and gray beards. I guess there will be another generation, coming along pretty soon. On Thursday, I was a greeter at the wall. We welcomed visitors; passed out ribbons to veterans, and key chains to Vietnam vets. Friday morning was July 3, so we had a large turnout. I worked at the wall, looking up names in a book, and helping people find them on the wall. Tomorrow morning, I have guard duty, from 3am to 7am. I enjoy talking to the people who come through, and sharing stories with the veterans. The wall will be open through Sunday night, the 4th of July.
We tore down the wall on Sunday night, and loaded it into the semi-truck. It's off to the next town. I really enjoyed working on this project. Helping people find names on the wall, talking to the veterans, and meeting a lot of people from our town. The truck driver is the only person who travels with the wall, so all the work was done by local volunteers. The Boy Scouts and the High School Band were helping out, so it wasn't all old people. We had big crowds on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There were opening and closing ceremonies, with speakers, including Lt. Governor Jeri Askins, who is running for Governor. Anyway, if one of these comes by, you could check it out; or volunteer.
