The Wall That Heals - It's Here!
Okay, so we escorted The Wall That Heals, the traveling Vietnam Wall memorial, to Taylor today. It was a long but fun day.
This is when we met before going up to Temple to meet the truck carrying the wall. The police were there to make sure we could get out of the parking lot together. The grocery store, HEB, fed us and made sure we had drinks.
Notice there's someone on top of the gas station building taking pics?
Here I am before we took off. This is before we left.
Before leaving, we always have a safety briefing and a prayer. Today, the toughest, most badass guy I know gave the prayer. He has four friends he served with on the wall. This was a HUGE deal for him. He cried when giving the prayer. Then we all did. Imagine all those tough bikers out there with tears in their eyes.
We made the 35 mile ride up to meet the wall. There we all assembled again and discussed the plan for the ride back to Taylor.
We all made it to Taylor safely and gathered to talk and tell tall stories before getting to work assembling the wall.
Of the many groups I have been working with, one of them is the Texas Association of Vietnam Veterans. This is me with the president of that organization, Don Dorsey.
Then it was time to assemble the wall. Ironically, Blade and I grabbed the panel that includes my uncle's name. Purely by random chance.
The city has been so supportive. I really appreciate how everyone in the city offices from the city manager to the Parks Department has jumped in to make sure everything would be done right. Here are the city employees putting in a walkway that runs from the parking lot to the wall, and along the full length of the wall.
My uncle is on Panel 6E, Row 50.
This wall opens to the public here tomorrow, the first official day. Tomorrow also happens to be the 44th anniversary of my uncle's death in Vietnam. A local news station, Fox 7, will be broadcasting live from the site tomorrow morning during the 6:00, 7:00, and 8:00 hours.
And here is the wall, fully assembled.
All the months of planning and hard work have finally come to fruition.
This is when we met before going up to Temple to meet the truck carrying the wall. The police were there to make sure we could get out of the parking lot together. The grocery store, HEB, fed us and made sure we had drinks.
Notice there's someone on top of the gas station building taking pics?
Here I am before we took off. This is before we left.
Before leaving, we always have a safety briefing and a prayer. Today, the toughest, most badass guy I know gave the prayer. He has four friends he served with on the wall. This was a HUGE deal for him. He cried when giving the prayer. Then we all did. Imagine all those tough bikers out there with tears in their eyes.
We made the 35 mile ride up to meet the wall. There we all assembled again and discussed the plan for the ride back to Taylor.
We all made it to Taylor safely and gathered to talk and tell tall stories before getting to work assembling the wall.
Of the many groups I have been working with, one of them is the Texas Association of Vietnam Veterans. This is me with the president of that organization, Don Dorsey.
Then it was time to assemble the wall. Ironically, Blade and I grabbed the panel that includes my uncle's name. Purely by random chance.
The city has been so supportive. I really appreciate how everyone in the city offices from the city manager to the Parks Department has jumped in to make sure everything would be done right. Here are the city employees putting in a walkway that runs from the parking lot to the wall, and along the full length of the wall.
My uncle is on Panel 6E, Row 50.
This wall opens to the public here tomorrow, the first official day. Tomorrow also happens to be the 44th anniversary of my uncle's death in Vietnam. A local news station, Fox 7, will be broadcasting live from the site tomorrow morning during the 6:00, 7:00, and 8:00 hours.
And here is the wall, fully assembled.
All the months of planning and hard work have finally come to fruition.