| Destination: Vermont Twenty-five years after | | | | "No, I was just walking." |
| the war ended--and often longer than that | | | | |
| since a loved one died in it--they still come | | | | Eventually, Miner came back to the volunteer |
| to The Wall. Eighteen years after The Vietnam | | | | with the book. There was a FAC, he said, a |
| Veterans Memorial was dedicated in | | | | Capt. Miller from Massachusetts. He was shot |
| Washington, 16 years after the first moving | | | | down and killed. |
| walls were built and began touring the | | | | |
| country, they still come, oblivious to the | | | | "The guy looked it up and he looked at me and |
| differences in size or scope of the | | | | said, `It's right behind you,' '' Miner said. |
| structure. | | | | |
| | | | When Miner became president of Chapter 601 in |
| They don't come for its size and scope. They | | | | Bennington, he vowed to bring The Moving Wall |
| come for the names. | | | | back. He formed a committee, contacted |
| | | | organizations around the town, and got |
| "There's nothing abstract about somebody's | | | | commitments for money needed to cover the |
| name," said John Devitt, one of The Moving | | | | expenses. |
| Wall's builders. "You look at a name and you | | | | |
| think of a person who had hopes and dreams | | | | "The level of community support was mind |
| and family and friends." | | | | boggling, unbelievable," he said. |
| | | | |
| Fred Frappiea Jr., had such hopes and dreams. | | | | The local newspaper did a story a day, |
| They ended on ending on March 22, 1968, in | | | | business owners gave employees time off work |
| Thua Thien, South Vietnam. He was 20 years | | | | to read names from The Wall, food was |
| old, a PFC in the 101st Airborne, Division | | | | donated, and the National Guard provided |
| when he was killed in action. | | | | tents. |
| | | | |
| His name appears on Panel 45E, Line 55. His | | | | "It was remarkable," Miner said. "I think a |
| mother, Lona Frappiea, 78, has never seen it. | | | | lot of it came from people needing to know. |
| | | | They came from all over the state and from |
| She went to The Moving Wall when it came to | | | | Massachusetts and New York, too. Every time I |
| Bennington, Vermont., near her home in | | | | turned around, there was a story happening." |
| Saxtons River. But she could not bring | | | | |
| herself to look at his name. To look at his | | | | Like the accident of his standing in front of |
| name would mean that she had to give him up. | | | | the name he sought, coincidences and |
| | | | connections came from surprising places. |
| "I'll go where The Wall is, but I won't go | | | | |
| where his name is," she said. "I've never | | | | A veteran seeks a Gold Star Mother to talk |
| gone." | | | | about her son, his buddy from Vietnam. Two |
| | | | days later, a retired couple from New York |
| When The Moving Wall came to Vermont, she | | | | ask about a name, a boy the man taught in |
| went on a day set aside to honor Gold Star | | | | grammar school. |
| parents. She wrote a letter to her son. | | | | |
| | | | It's the same name. |
| A volunteer placed it at the foot of the | | | | |
| portable wall under his name. | | | | A motorcycle rider comes alone. For three |
| | | | days, he speaks to no one. Finally, Miner and |
| "I had just become acquainted with VVA and | | | | others approach and offer him coffee. He |
| the more I saw of them, the better I liked | | | | declines, saying he wants only to hear one |
| them," she said. "You can't get any better | | | | name read. |
| friend than a Vietnam veteran. They're just | | | | |
| wonderful people. They're my families. I have | | | | They ask if he would like to read the name |
| never met a Vietnam veteran I didn't love. I | | | | himself. |
| wish I could get more Gold Star Mothers | | | | |
| active because they don't know the love | | | | "He read it," Miner said. "As soon as he did, |
| they'e missing. A lot of people ask me how | | | | he rode off and we never saw him again." |
| can I get up and do it, and I tell them, | | | | |
| "it's not how can I get up and do it. I do it | | | | Charlene Moffitt, another Vermonter and the |
| for my son." | | | | sister of Clifton Bacon, who died in Vietnam |
| | | | in 1966, is the only member of her family who |
| When The Wall comes to a community, the | | | | has touched his name. It's high on The Wall |
| community invariably responds. When The Wall | | | | in Washington and when she went there in 1982 |
| That Heals, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans | | | | for its dedication, someone showed her the |
| Memorial Fund, came to Delaware County, Pa., | | | | ladder she could use. |
| George Brown spoke of an "outpouring" of | | | | |
| support. | | | | "When we buried him, it was never settled," |
| | | | she said. "They sent him home in a sealed |
| "You really don't know what to expect," he | | | | coffin. I didn't really believe it was true. |
| said. "The things people left at The Wall | | | | But when I saw his name on The Wall, I |
| showed how it impacted them. Mementoes, the | | | | thought, that's him." |
| kind of thing you find down at Washington. | | | | |
| But knowing The Wall was temporary, you | | | | Her sister, Christine Bacon, said The Wall |
| wouldn't expect the effort to make up the | | | | "brought him home." |
| little things they left." | | | | |
| | | | "It was painful to see, but it confirmed it," |
| A friend had gotten involved in the effort to | | | | she said. "I was only sixteen when he died. |
| bring The Wall That Heals to Delaware County. | | | | Charlene was eighteen, and it was like you |
| Brown advised on the protocols that needed to | | | | couldn't believe it. It brought him home. A |
| be followed and helped in the research. | | | | lot of people in the 60s said a lot of |
| | | | negative things. When The Wall came to |
| "There's more awareness today of how people | | | | Bennington, it was like saying he's a good |
| were treated," he said. "There are still a | | | | person and he's home again. We can be proud |
| lot of family members around and we have | | | | now. He's got his own place now. We don't |
| quite a few Gold Star Mothers in the county. | | | | need to protect him anymore." |
| But I talked to three or four guys who had | | | | |
| never been to The Wall." | | | | They grew up in a small town in a small |
| | | | state. There were 14 children in their |
| In Vermont in 1991, John Miner was one of | | | | hometown and five of them came from the Bacon |
| them. The Moving Wall had come to Rutland for | | | | family. Eight years separated the five. |
| two weeks. He couldn't bring himself to go | | | | Clifton Bacon was 21 when he was drafted, 22 |
| until the last day. Then friends said they | | | | when he died. |
| were going and asked him along. | | | | |
| | | | "The Moving Wall, the real Wall, it's hard, |
| "I got up there and one of those weird things | | | | all those people, all those guys and women, |
| happened," he said. "A guy came up with a | | | | what they went through," Charlene said. "I'll |
| book and asked if he could help me. I said, | | | | always go. If I could go tomorrow, I'd go. |