FeedsWestland honors fallen soldiers
Photographs of smiling young men, handwritten letters, flowers, and other mementoes spoke silently of wounds that never quite heal to those who visited the Vietnam Moving Wall.
A scaled-down version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., the wall lists the names of 58,248 members of the American military who died, went missing, or became unaccounted for prisoners-of-war during the war in Vietnam. Among those included on the wall are nine Westland men: Michael A. Blondin, Edward James Bova, Joseph M. Giusta, Steve Orris III, Dennis G. Prince, Arlie Spencer, Jr., Rick James Stewart, Refugio T. Teran, and Joseph F. Willis.
Although it has been more than 30 years since American troops were withdrawn from Vietnam, neither rain nor nightfall prevented citizens from paying tribute to the men and women who never made it home at the Moving Wall. It was open around the clock throughout the Westland Summer Festival.
“Everything is going very smoothly,” Ken Mehl, chairman of the Moving Wall committee and a Vietnam veteran, said on Monday. “It’s been steady all the time.”By Monday afternoon, Mehl said that more than 15,000 people had visited the wall—and that number was expected to increase dramatically as residents flooded onto the festival grounds for the fireworks Tuesday night.
The popularity of the exhibit came as no surprise, though. It opened last Thursday with full military honors to a standing-room-only crowd. Amid the military honor guards, the fly-over by a military helicopter, and various speakers, the first tributes were laid by area veterans’ organizations, including one wreath presented by the Foundation of American Veterans in honor of the Westland men who perished.
It was the people, however, who remained the focus of the event. Westland Mayor Sandra Cicirelli spoke of receiving a package of mementos from the mother of Joseph M. Giusta, a Westland soldier who died at 18 years old, with a request that the items be laid by the wall in his honor even though her health would not permit her to attend. Others spoke of the chilly reception Vietnam era soldiers received when they returned states-side.
For many of the participants, it was an intensely personal event.
“If I were to walk along that wall, I would see at least 32 names I personally know,” said Plymouth Township resident Roger Kehrier, who saw in-country combat in Vietnam firsthand as a member of the infantry. “I can close my eyes and see their faces. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about them.”
Others saw the visit as a more abstract way to pay tribute to all of the soldiers who had fought.
“I respect any man who serves his country,” said Geraldine Mumm of Westland. Although she has no loved ones on the wall, she said that she wanted to honor all of the soldiers who had lost their lives in a foreign land.
Whatever their reasons for attending, most of the visitors praised the community for providing the visit.
“It shows that Westland cared enough to bring it here,” said Inkster resident and Vietnam veteran Ron Thomas of Bova VFW 9885 in Westland.He added that the visit was good for the community because it would “remind people that people died to keep them free.”
Others argued that the recognition was long overdue.
“My father was in Vietnam,” said Christine Hayes, who grew up in Westland. “I like it that Westland is finally doing something to recognize the veterans.”
