COUDERSPORT — The Moving Wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will be displayed in Potter County at the Coudersport Area Recreation Park (CARP) starting today through Monday.
The Moving Wall is alternatively known as the “Wall that Heals,” and two replicas traverse the country annually, giving veterans who do not have the opportunity to visit the nation’s capital a chance to visit the memorial. The replica includes the names of the more than 58,000 soldiers who lost their lives during the war and it is kept open 24-hours per day while set up in a community to give all veterans a chance to visit.
At each site where the wall is displayed, local partners assist with a variety of responsibilities, from helping with set-up and lighting to guiding individuals looking for specific names etched into the wall’s face.
The Potter County Veterans Service Committee and Coudersport American Legion Post 192 Adjutant Ted Parsell have spearheaded the planning committee, with support from other veteran’s service posts from across Potter County. Financial support to bring the Moving Wall to Coudersport was provided through the Potter County Commissioners and a grant from the Pennsylvania Veterans Trust Fund. Additional support was provided through generous local donations and the county’s affiliation with the Commemoration of the Vietnam War initiative, a project of the United States Congress and the Department of Defense.
A brief welcome ceremony has been planned on the courthouse square in Coudersport at 9:30 a.m. today as the Moving Wall is brought into town on its way to CARP.
An opening ceremony is planned for 5 p.m. today. The ceremony will include a remembrance ceremony for the nine Potter County soldiers who lost their lives while serving their country in Vietnam: Private Clark Douglas, Staff Sergeant Gerrith Kibbe, Specialist Kenneth Lampman, Sergeant Bruce Maynard, Captain Edgar Nuschke, Private Edward Ritsick, Specialist Donald L. Stiles, Specialist Gerald Stonemetz and Private Edwin Franklin Tubbs.
Vietnam Memorial Wreaths will be laid by families of the Potter County deceased as part of the ceremony, and lighting of candles/tolling of bells for all lost veterans will also be held. Several musical performances are scheduled by the Headwaters Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and by bagpiper Chet Norton. Taps will be played during the ceremony and at the retiring of the colors each evening at sundown by Art Metzger.
The invocation, benediction and remarks will be given by Chaplain John Kallerson, Colonel, U.S. Army retired. The keynote speaker will be Colonel Larry M. Brom, U.S. Army, retired, with a subject of “A Time of Tribute.”
Brom is assistant director of plans and operations for the United States of America Vietnam War 50th Commemoration. He is a distinguished military graduate who was commissioned in the Army as an armory officer. He performed various command and staff duties throughout his military carrier and commanded the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Squadron and served as the Garrison Commander of Fort Riley, Kansas. Later, he served as the program manager for the Department of Defense Join Inspector General Activities, Office of the Department of Defense Inspector General.
KIA (Killed in Action) and POW/MIA (Prisoners of War/Missing in Action) wreath laying will also be held, and a rifle salute will be offered by the Potter County Honor Guard.
The somber ceremony will precede tonight’s retiring of the colors. Though the ceremony will end, veterans are welcome to stop at the Moving Wall display no matter the time, day or night, throughout its stay in Potter County. Volunteers will be available at all times, and lighting will be provided to ensure visitors’ safety.
From Friday through Monday, there will be a sunrise ceremony for the raising of the colors, performed shortly after 6:50 a.m. depending upon the day and time of sunrise for that date. The Pledge of Allegiance will be recited followed by a prayer service each day at 8 a.m. At sunset on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the colors will be retired and Taps will be played.
On Thursday and Monday, groups of high school students from schools across the county will be brought to the Moving Wall for educational presentations and a chance to view the wall and see the names of the fallen. At 7 p.m. on Saturday, a military tribute concert will be presented by the Headwaters Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.
On Monday afternoon, a closing ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the Moving Wall, featuring a Benediction, Rifle Salute, the playing of Taps, and Retiring of the Colors. The Moving Wall will then head on to its next destination.
When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. was unveiled in 1982, veteran John Devitt stated he felt the positive power of the wall and believed it should be shared with all Vietnam Veterans, regardless of their ability to travel to the main memorial in the nation’s capital. He and a handful of Vietnam veteran volunteers constructed the first Moving Wall, originally displayed in Tyler, Texas, in 1984.
The Moving Wall contains the same 58,318 names listed on the Washington, D.C. memorial, arranged in the order they were taken from this earth by date, and by alphabetical order within each date.
The first known casualty of the Vietnam War was Richard B. Fitzgibbon, of North Weymouth, Massachusetts, who died on June 8, 1956. His son, Marine Corps Lance Corporal Richard B. Fitzgibbon III, is also listed on the wall. He was killed on Sept. 7, 1965. There are three sets of fathers and sons listed on the wall.
Of the 58,000 casualties, 39,996 of them were age 22 or younger. Twelve soldiers listed were only 17 years old; five were 16 years old; and one, Private First-Class Dan Bullock, was 15 years old.
During their first day in Vietnam, 997 soldiers were killed while 1,448 were killed on the last day before they were scheduled to return home.
“For most Americans who read this they will only see the numbers that the Vietnam War created. To those of us who survived the war, and to the families of those who did not, we see the faces, we feel the pain that these numbers created. We are, until we too pass away, haunted with these numbers, because they were our friends, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters. There are no noble wars, just noble warriors,” reads an anonymous quote on the Vietnam War thought to sum up the experiences of those who lived through that tragic time.
