Jefferson County Honors Veterans and contributes a Mystery at 'The Wall That Heals'
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Julie Rohring (left) and Kathleen Raymond look for Daniel I. Nelson's name at The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale traveling replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Nelson was the fiancé of Rohring's neighbor. Rohring's husband, Terry S. Rohring, served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968 as a mechanic in the United States Air Force. Photo by Heather Johnson [/caption]
New by Heather Johnson
On Sunday, September 14, a small ceremony with an invocation, closing remarks, and taps marked the end of The Wall That Heals’ visit to Port Townsend. Now in its thirty-first season of traveling across the nation, the wall, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., will next visit Independence, Oregon, as part of its tour of thirty different communities. ”
During its four-day stay in Port Townsend, the Wall saw over 8,000 visitors, including 400 children. People from all generations visited, including Vietnam War Veterans, family members of those engraved on the Wall, and friends and acquaintances. Kathleen Raymond came to find Daniel I. Nelson, the fiancé of her neighbor.
Diane Seitz came to say “hi” to her dad, whose name is on the wall. Seitz‘s father, Major Warren L Long, United States Air Force, died in a plane crash when she was just seven years old. Seitz still remembers the “blue car coming up the driveway” to deliver the news of her father’s death.
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Steve Young pulls an envelope from a box of donated letters. The "thank you" letters were written to the Vietnam Cookie Croc, a group of women in Long Beach, California who baked cookies and sent care packages to service members between the years 1966 and 1972. Photo by Heather Johnson [/caption]
Along with numerous items left behind at the Wall, such as photos, cards, flowers, and flags, the arrival of the wall also saw the donation of a box of hundreds of letters to the Vietnam Cookie Croc, a group of women who sent care packages from Long Beach, California.
It’s unclear who made the donation at this time, though the letter attached to the box explains that “between 1968 and 1970, my husband’s aunt belonged to a group of women who would bake cookies and gather other small items to be mailed to our soldiers in Vietnam. These women lived in Long Beach, California.“
With hopes of making a connection between names on the donated letters and names on the wall, Commander Wyatt Ranson of the American Legion post number 26 in Port Townsend, made a request on Nextdoor for someone to go through the letters and cross-reference them with names on the Wall.
While there wasn’t enough time to go through all the letters, Ranson and Seitz confirmed they had found several names that matched those on the Wall. The host of the Wall in each community is responsible for deciding what to do with items left behind or donated.
After the closing ceremonies, volunteers gathered to disassemble the wall under dark clouds and the occasional raindrop. The traveling memorial has allowed another community to visit with and remember the people enshrined on this traveling exhibit.
