Smoke Signals 3
AUGUST 1,2010
The Moving WaOD sftood sftiiOD oro Grand Ronudle
Saturday ceremony
honors those who lost
their lives in Vietnam
By Ron Karten
Smulte Signal tlttfunler
It represents the lost hopes and
dreams pf 58,268 Americans, their
families and friends.
Tribal Elder, Tribal Council mem
ber and Vietnam-era Marino Corps
veteran Steve Bobb Sr. called those
hopes and dreams, The what-ifs,
the what could have beens, gone in
a flash, a speck of time."
As emcee for a July 17 ceremony
introducing The Moving Wall, a
half-size replica of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial in Washing
ton, D.C., Robb introduced a small
crowd of friends, families and vet
erans themselves to this traveling
memorial that stopped in Grand
Ronde for five days in mid-July.
Spirit Mountain Casino spon
sored the memorial that was set
up in just over an hour at the old
powwow grounds in front of the
Governance Center.
"The Tribe brings us so many
enriching events," said Tribal Elder
Marion Mercier. "It's important to
get to be a part of it all."
Among those who came to be
part of this event were Korean War
veterans Marce Norwest, a Tribal
Elder who gave the invocation,
and Irv Fletcher, a member of the
Governor's Veterans' Affairs Advi
sory Committee, who served on the
Honor Guard.
It also brought out Iraq War
veterans Zach Millsap and Greg
Gwynn, both with tours of duty
behind them and more ahead.
It brought out Vietnam veterans
like Bobb and Clark Clendenin,
John Gosnell, Michael Polston and
Tribal Elder Alton Butler, and
Tribal Elder and Tribal Council
member June Sell-Sherer, who
served in Germany. It brought out
Sell-Sherer's husband, Michael,
who served "a few clicks north of
Danang."
The Wall reminded Gosnell of a
friend who shipped out to Vietnam
a year before he did. They were go
ing to meet up, but his friend had
already been killed when Gosnell
arrived.
"I don't know any of the names,"
said Polston, "but I'm sure I've got
friends up there." Polston served
with the Marines in Danang. What
he remembers is "how we were
treated when we came back com
pared to how they're treated now.
I'm happy to see how they're giving
respect to the troops now, (respect)
that we didn't get."
This knowledge is one of the
things that Millsap carries, all
these years later.
Between tours in Iraq, and after
serving in the Honor Guard dur
ing the day's ceremony, he said
that The Wall makes him think
"how we have so much. (Veterans
of Vietnam) tell me, 'Thank you for
my service,' and I say, 'No. I owe
you.' What I'm doing is nothing
compared to what these guys went
through."
Gwynn, who like Millsap is be-
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal members Sophia Morning-Star Sttwart and bar fathar Travis Mercier
sing during The Moving Wall opening ceremony on the Tribal campus on
Saturday, July 17.
tween tours running convoy secu
rity "all over" Iraq, is working with
the Tribe's ProStar Security team
in the interim.
"I see a lot of good men, a lot
of history here," he said. "This is
something that the youth of Amer
ica needs to know about."
And through the efforts of The
Moving Wall's creators, many con
tinue to learn.
The Moving Wall in Grand Ronde
is one of two replicas of the original.
The exhibits are the work of John
Devitt and Gerry Haver, Army
and Navy vets, respectively, from
the Vietnam War, who wanted to
share the experience of the original
Washington, D.C., memorial, and
succeeded, beyond their imagin
ing, in city after city across the
country.
"In November 1982, 1 went to the
dedication of The Wall in Wash
ington, D.C.," said Devitt. "I didn't
expect to be moved, but it had a pro
found impact on me, and I realized
it was something I wanted to share
with guys I knew (in San Jose)."
On hearing the idea, Haver "went
into his bedroom and came up with
$2,500 for the project," said Devitt.
Haver passed on in 2000.
When back in D.C. photographing
the original, Devitt said, "You're
talking to all kinds of people, and
someone said, 'So you said it was
going to be portable?' and we said,
Teah, it would be portable.' "
They did the original work them
selves, and for almost 30 years the
exhibit has averaged showings in
more than 25 cities a year from
April until after Veterans Day,
more than 1,100 to date.
"I could of got rich," said Devitt,
"but I didn't so I did this."
Ten years ago, after Haver's
passing, Devitt's wife, Joy, joined
Devitt on the road and has since
been helping to erect the 72-panel
exhibit.
Volunteers work with them at
each stop.
As the 253-foot wall went up on
Thursday morning, Joy, with a
cloth in her hand, polished panel
after panel of the black Plexiglas
on wood frame design. The panels of
the original, in Washington, D.C,
are granite.
Grand Ronde Royalty at the cer
emony included Tribal members
Little Miss Grand Ronde Isabelle
Grout, Amelia Mooney, McKenzie
Aaron, Madison Aaron, Iyana Hol
mes and Kallie Provost.
"I couldn't look at The Wall the
first time I saw it in D.C," said
Vietnam veteran Ron Brainard,
who also is a past Tribal chairman
of the Confederated Tribes of Coos,
Lower Umpqua, & Siuslaw Indians
in Coos Bay. Quite a few years later
Little Mis Grand Ronde Isabelle
Grout leaves a program from The
Moving Wall opening ceremony at
the wall after the ceremony was
over on Saturday, July 1 7. The half
size replica of the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial in Washington, D.C., was
on display on the Tribal campus
July 15-19.
in Portland, he said, he was finally
able to face The Wall, and he has
now been back to see the original
in D.C. many times.
"I finally can walk by it now,"
he said. "Time heals wounds, I.
guess."
Brainard joined Gene LaBonte
on the Honor Guard, along with
Millsap and Alton Butler. LaBonte
is a Tribal Elder, Vietnam vet and
chair of the Oregon Department of
Veterans' Affairs Advisory Com
mittee. Bobb talked about the troubled
times that accompanied the Viet
nam conflict. "But we had a call to
duty," he said.
Mike Sherer said the names rep
resented "a lot of guys who never
should have been there, who never
should have died. All they wanted,"
he said, referring to the Vietnam
ese, "was to be free" of French
colonial rule.
Irv Fletcher, a leader of Oregon
AFL-CIO after his service in Korea,
was another who "didn't think we
should have been there, but that
has nothing to do with honoring
these men."
Honor and tears marked the
day.
"They say of The Wall in D.C,
when it rains, it appears to be weep
ing," said Bobb.
An elderly couple, who had vis
ited The Moving Wall, afterward
walked over to the West Valley
Veterans' Memorial designed by
Bobb
On their way back, the woman
said, "No, we don't want to be
quoted. I'm sorry." A few seconds
passed. "We lost our son," she
added. B