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Traveling With The Moving Wall Of The Vietnam Veterans

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 comeEventually, Miner came back to the volunteer
to The Wall. Eighteen years after The Vietnamwith the book. There was a FAC, he said, a
Veterans Memorial was dedicated inCapt. Miller from Massachusetts. He was shot
Washington, 16 years after the first movingdown  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 thesaid, `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. TheyBennington, 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'scommitments for money needed to cover the
name," said John Devitt, one of The Movingexpenses.
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, inbusiness owners gave employees time off work
Thua Thien, South Vietnam. He was 20 yearsto read names from The Wall, food was
old, a PFC in the 101st Airborne, Divisiondonated, 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 toMassachusetts and New York, too. Every time I
Bennington, Vermont., near her home inturned  around, there was a story happening."
Saxtons River. But she could not bring
herself to look at his name. To look at hisLike 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 neverA 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, sheask about a name, a boy the man taught in
went on a day set aside to honor Gold Stargrammar  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 andothers approach and offer him coffee. He
the more I saw of them, the better I likeddeclines, saying he wants only to hear one
them," she said. "You can't get any bettername  read.
friend than a Vietnam veteran. They're just
wonderful people. They're my families. I haveThey ask if he would like to read the name
never met a Vietnam veteran I didn't love. Ihimself.
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 howhe  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 itCharlene 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, thehas touched his name. It's high on The Wall
community invariably responds. When The Wallin Washington and when she went there in 1982
That Heals, sponsored by the Vietnam Veteransfor 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," hecoffin. I didn't really believe it was true.
said. "The things people left at The WallBut when I saw his name on The Wall, I
showed how it impacted them. Mementoes, thethought,  that's  him."
kind of thing you find down at Washington.
But knowing The Wall was temporary, youHer 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 toshe 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 tocouldn'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 peopleBennington, it was like saying he's a good
were treated," he said. "There are still aperson and he's home again. We can be proud
lot of family members around and we havenow. 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 ofhometown and five of them came from the Bacon
them. The Moving Wall had come to Rutland forfamily. Eight years separated the five.
two weeks. He couldn't bring himself to goClifton Bacon was 21 when he was drafted, 22
until the last day. Then friends said theywhen  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 thingsall those people, all those guys and women,
happened," he said. "A guy came up with awhat 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.



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