Traveling Vietnam Memorial visits Central Texas

By Brittany Fholer
Cove Leader-Press 

The Wall that Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam War memorial located in Washington D.C., brought healing and closure to local veterans and their families during its four-day stay at the Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery this past weekend. 
The opening ceremony was held Thursday morning in the cemetery, with several dozen veterans, officials and members of the community attending. The display was taken down Sunday afternoon.
The Veterans Land Board deputy director of Texas State Veterans Cemeteries, Eric Brown, explained how the VLB helped bring the traveling memorial to Killeen with the goal of supporting the efforts of raising awareness and remembrance. 
“There is no denying the tremendous impact the war in Vietnam had on so many,” Brown said. “The war in Vietnam was fought during one of the most divisive periods in our nation’s history. Sadly, the costly ripple effects of war continue today as many still struggle and suffer to fit into a society that once rejected honor, duty and sacrifice.”
 The four different Texas State Cemeteries serve as places of rest but also places to comfort Texas veterans and their families, which is also what the Wall that Heals does, Brown said.
“Displaying the wall that heals ensures we never forget those that perished and serves to keep their memories alive,” Brown said. 
The ceremony’s keynote speaker, retired Lt. Col. Patrick Christ explained that memorials are made to remind people of what happened. 
More than 58,000 service men and women died as a result of the Vietnam War, and the Wall that Heals lists all 58,318 of their names- spanning from 1959 to 1975 over its length of 250 ft, which is nearly half the length of the memorial in D.C. 
“Whether you think this was a good or bad, necessary or unnecessary war, the fact remains war was fought and many lives were lost,” Christ said. 
He added that history shouldn’t be repeated but those who fought and died should be remembered, thanked and welcomed home.
Kenneth Schoen, who served in Vietnam in 1966-1967 spending six months with 199th Brigade and six months with 4th Infantry Division, explained that the memorial meant a lot to him, especially in light of the type of welcome that soldiers received when they came home from the war. They were spit on and insulted and until recently, “lived in the shadows,” Schoen said. 
Schoen said he was glad that now troops are treated with more respect and that now those who served and lost their lives in Vietnam were getting the respect they deserved. 
“There is so many people that lost their lives because they believed in their brothers and sisters and their mothers and dads and whatever, so it’s a good thing,” Schoen said. 
On the wall, five years of casualties are listed on panel 1E; five months of casualties are listed on panel 2E; and five weeks of casualties are listed on panel 3E. The ages of service members on the wall spans from age 15 to 62, with the average age of service members being 22 years and nine months. 
Lupe Martinez heard about the wall coming to Killeen on the news Thursday morning and came up from Georgetown. His half-brother, Eugene O. Martinez, is listed on the wall. Eugene, who was born in Copperas Cove, died at 19-years-old in 1969 after only six months in Vietnam, Martinez shared. 
Martinez spent most of his time sitting in front of Eugene’s name, placing pieces of paper over his name and using a pencil to make an etching to take with him. 
When asked if he could put into words what the Wall means to him, Martinez said he couldn’t. 
Although he never got to know him, he was still his brother, Martinez said. 
“I wish I would have got to meet him, that’s all,” Martinez said.  
Martinez said that he tries to go to each display of the Wall that Heals to get etchings, adding that he went when the Wall was in West a couple of years ago. 
Retired Sgt. Major Fred F. Balderrama wore his Green Beret uniform at the ceremony. Balderrama served in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Central Highlands from June 1968 to August 1969 at 20 years of age. 
“Thank God I was faster than the bullets,” he joked, adding that he was proud to serve. 
He has followed the wall to Wichita Falls, Texarkana and San Antonio, he said. He has also visited the original memorial in D.C. 
He called it a great honor to have the replica available for the public. The names on the wall are so important for the families of those veterans, he added. 
“Lot of soldiers were like families for six months because we rotated so much, and they got attached like brothers and it’s hard to say good bye, but it happens,” Balderrama said. “But It’s a great honor to have it, especially here in Killeen, where there’s a lot of veterans.”