Searches begin as ‘Wall’ opens

By Rex Barber
Press Staff Writer
rbarber@johnsoncitypress.com

He has been to the memorial in Washington three times and still hasn’t seen them all. He continued his mission Thursday morning as “The Wall That Heals” opened at the Liberty Bell Track near Freedom Hall Civic Center. Ferguson, a Marine Corps sergeant who served in Vietnam from 1964-66, has only recently been able to speak about his experiences.

The memorial has helped in that.

“I’ve been there three times. I still haven’t got it finished,” he said, pausing to compose himself. “I have to leave. I can’t handle it. I left 54 of them on the ground over there.”

Ferguson, who lives in Fall Branch, served with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, Hotel Company and Delta Company 19, also known as “The Walking Dead.”

“I want to say that (they’re) one hell of a bunch of Marines,” Ferguson said pointing to the traveling memorial and choking up. “The others too. They were brave. They were fighters. And when we went we all went as one. We can’t say enough for them. We can’t do enough for them.”

The wall on display at Liberty Bell Track is an exact half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Inscribed on the memorial are the names of the more than 58,000 Americans who died during the Vietnam War or remain missing in action. The traveling memorial opened officially at 10 a.m. Thursday with an Air Force fly over, music, ceremony and speeches. Johnson City Mayor Jane Myron read a proclamation declaring the first week of June Vietnam Veterans Week in the city.

Bobby Bates served in the Air Force in Vietnam. He knows a man on the wall – Gary A. Curtis. Bates went to Science Hill High School with him. In fact, the two men sat near each other all through school because their names were close together in the alphabet.

Bates said Curtis volunteered for the job of being lowered into a tunnel to check for the enemy one day. He was shot in the gut. His fellow soldiers hauled him back up. Curtis died in his captain’s arms.

“I loved him as a friend, you know,” Bates said. “For him to do what he did I think is a sign of courage and bravery and respect for your fellow man.”

Maurice L. Webb, a Vietnam veteran who served as a gunner in the Navy, could never get to Washington to see the original memorial, so he was glad to visit the traveling version. He said even though he was a sailor, the closest he ever got to the coast of Vietnam was about 80 yards once near Da Nang.

Webb was a “brown water” sailor, he said. He and his team fired more than 10,000 50-pound projectiles at enemy positions for Marine Corps units. He knows three soldiers on the memorial. James Tart, Gary Carter and Eddie Reed were the names he was seeking Thursday.

Webb said he thought of his time in Vietnam during the Tet offensive of 1968 while looking for his comrades’ names.

“I knew them from the time they was in the first grade, especially James Tart and Eddie Reed,” he said. “They was pretty outgoing, friendly, very well liked.”

The Liberty Bell Track was crowded with several hundred visitors Thursday. Tens of thousands are expected throughout the weekend.

“For the next four days this will be sacred ground,” said Rolling Thunder Chapter 4 President Doug Grissom. “We hope that it will help the Vietnam veterans and their families heal.”

Grissom said the wall’s presence also is a chance to educate children on the sacrifices made during the war and on history not taught in school.

Rose Marie Whisnant brought her daughter and her next-door neighbor for that educational experience.

“The wall represents the veterans who have given their lives to protect our country,” Whisnant said.” And I have a daughter, Emma Grace Whisnant, whose father is a veteran. And I wanted her to understand what it means to have a family member, father, who is a veteran and what that signifies.”

Whisnant does not know anyone on the wall but thinks it will instill pride in her daughter and other children.

“I think it’s made an impression on them,” she said. “They may not fully understand everything that this signifies, but I believe that God has a plan and a purpose for everything. And that from today seeds have been planted that will be meaningful to them later on.”

The memorial is free and open 24 hours a day until Sunday night.

A visitor looks for a special name on the Wall.  (Ron Campbell / Johnson City Press photo)