Traveling With The Moving Wall Of The Vietnam Veterans

Destination: Vermont Twenty-five years after theasked if he could help me. I said, "No, I was just
war ended--and often longer than that since a lovedwalking."
one died in it--they still come to The Wall. EighteenEventually, Miner came back to the volunteer with
years after The Vietnam Veterans Memorial wasthe book. There was a FAC, he said, a Capt. Miller
dedicated in Washington, 16 years after the firstfrom Massachusetts. He was shot down and killed.
moving walls were built and began touring the"The guy looked it up and he looked at me and said,
country, they still come, oblivious to the differences`It's right behind you,' '' Miner said.
in size or scope of the structure.When Miner became president of Chapter 601 in
They don't come for its size and scope. They comeBennington, he vowed to bring The Moving Wall back.
for the names.He formed a committee, contacted organizations
"There's nothing abstract about somebody's name,"around the town, and got commitments for money
said John Devitt, one of The Moving Wall's builders.needed to cover the expenses.
"You look at a name and you think of a person who"The level of community support was mind boggling,
had hopes and dreams and family and friends."unbelievable," he said.
Fred Frappiea Jr., had such hopes and dreams. TheyThe local newspaper did a story a day, business
ended on ending on March 22, 1968, in Thua Thien,owners gave employees time off work to read
South Vietnam. He was 20 years old, a PFC in thenames from The Wall, food was donated, and the
101st Airborne, Division when he was killed in action.National Guard provided tents.
His name appears on Panel 45E, Line 55. His mother,"It was remarkable," Miner said. "I think a lot of it
Lona Frappiea, 78, has never seen it.came from people needing to know. They came
She went to The Moving Wall when it came tofrom all over the state and from Massachusetts and
Bennington, Vermont., near her home in SaxtonsNew York, too. Every time I turned around, there
River. But she could not bring herself to look at hiswas a story happening."
name. To look at his name would mean that she hadLike the accident of his standing in front of the name
to give him up.he sought, coincidences and connections came from
"I'll go where The Wall is, but I won't go where hissurprising places.
name is," she said. "I've never gone."A veteran seeks a Gold Star Mother to talk about
When The Moving Wall came to Vermont, she wenther son, his buddy from Vietnam. Two days later, a
on a day set aside to honor Gold Star parents. Sheretired couple from New York ask about a name, a
wrote a letter to her son.boy the man taught in grammar school.
A volunteer placed it at the foot of the portable wallIt's the same name.
under his name.A motorcycle rider comes alone. For three days, he
"I had just become acquainted with VVA and thespeaks to no one. Finally, Miner and others approach
more I saw of them, the better I liked them," sheand offer him coffee. He declines, saying he wants
said. "You can't get any better friend than a Vietnamonly to hear one name read.
veteran. They're just wonderful people. They're myThey ask if he would like to read the name himself.
families. I have never met a Vietnam veteran I didn't"He read it," Miner said. "As soon as he did, he rode
love. I wish I could get more Gold Star Mothersoff and we never saw him again."
active because they don't know the love they'eCharlene Moffitt, another Vermonter and the sister
missing. A lot of people ask me how can I get upof Clifton Bacon, who died in Vietnam in 1966, is the
and do it, and I tell them, "it's not how can I get uponly member of her family who has touched his
and do it. I do it for my son."name. It's high on The Wall in Washington and when
When The Wall comes to a community, theshe went there in 1982 for its dedication, someone
community invariably responds. When The Wall Thatshowed her the ladder she could use.
Heals, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial"When we buried him, it was never settled," she said.
Fund, came to Delaware County, Pa., George Brown"They sent him home in a sealed coffin. I didn't really
spoke of an "outpouring" of support.believe it was true. But when I saw his name on The
"You really don't know what to expect," he said.Wall, I thought, that's him."
"The things people left at The Wall showed how itHer sister, Christine Bacon, said The Wall "brought him
impacted them. Mementoes, the kind of thing youhome."
find down at Washington. But knowing The Wall was"It was painful to see, but it confirmed it," she said. "I
temporary, you wouldn't expect the effort to makewas only sixteen when he died. Charlene was
up the little things they left."eighteen, and it was like you couldn't believe it. It
A friend had gotten involved in the effort to bringbrought him home. A lot of people in the 60s said a
The Wall That Heals to Delaware County. Brownlot of negative things. When The Wall came to
advised on the protocols that needed to be followedBennington, it was like saying he's a good person and
and helped in the research.he's home again. We can be proud now. He's got his
"There's more awareness today of how people wereown place now. We don't need to protect him
treated," he said. "There are still a lot of familyanymore."
members around and we have quite a few Gold StarThey grew up in a small town in a small state. There
Mothers in the county. But I talked to three or fourwere 14 children in their hometown and five of them
guys who had never been to The Wall."came from the Bacon family. Eight years separated
In Vermont in 1991, John Miner was one of them.the five. Clifton Bacon was 21 when he was drafted,
The Moving Wall had come to Rutland for two22 when he died.
weeks. He couldn't bring himself to go until the last"The Moving Wall, the real Wall, it's hard, all those
day. Then friends said they were going and askedpeople, all those guys and women, what they went
him along.through," Charlene said. "I'll always go. If I could go
"I got up there and one of those weird thingstomorrow, I'd go.
happened," he said. "A guy came up with a book and