Vietnam Memorial replica makes stop in Marked Tree
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The roar of the semitruck carrying a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and the motorcycles escorting it to Cypress Park in Marked Tree on Tuesday were sounds of healing for Barbara Adams.
For more than a year and a half, Adams and her husband, Danny, of Marked Tree held events to raise the $ 5, 000 needed to get the memorial to the Poinsett County town.
The couple had developed the Teddy Tally Scholarship Fund years ago to honor Tally, the first Poinsett County man killed in Vietnam. Tally had been a friend of both Barbara and Danny Adams before their marriage, and the idea to get the memorial exhibit to Marked Tree sprang from that scholarship project, Barbara Adams said.
“Danny had the dream going in his head for a while to get this,” said Soozi Williams, director of the Marked Tree Delta Area Museum. “He’s not let go of it at all.”
The wall was also shown in North Little Rock and Lawton in 1998 and in Dardanelle in 1997.
The wall, created in 1996, is a half-size replica of the memorial wall in Washington, D. C., and features the names of more than 58, 000 U. S. soldiers killed or missing in action during the conflict, including 16 men from Poinsett County.
Today the 250-foot long replica wall, also known as the “Wall that Heals,” will be put up, and a candlelight vigil will take place at 8 p. m. at Cypress Park near downtown Marked Tree. Residents are asked to gather around the wall for songs and prayers.
An opening ceremony there at 9 a. m. Thursday, Adams said, will honor local veterans. The ceremony includes the laying of a wreath, a 21-gun salute and a playing of taps.
On Friday members of the Charlie and Echo Companies, two units that were deployed to Vietnam and are holding a reunion in Memphis this week, will visit the wall.
Veterans will hold their own candlelight vigil at 7 p. m. Friday, Adams said.
The exhibit will remain in Marked Tree through Sunday evening and will be open 24 hours a day. Volunteers will be there from 9 a. m. to 9 p. m. each day, and security personnel will remain at the park throughout the exhibit’s visit.
“This is awesome,” said Barbara Adams of the Marked Tree exhibit. “It’s way beyond our dreams. We expect a lot of people to come.”
Marked Tree is the only stop for the wall in Arkansas this year. It traveled from Casper, Wyo., where it was on display Sept. 11-14, and will head to Oak Forest, Ill., on Oct. 2. Its last stop in Arkansas was in 2005, when it was on display in Jonesboro.
Williams said most of the families of the 16 men named on the wall from Poinsett County have been invited to attend ceremonies in Marked Tree this week.
“We do have quite a few [Vietnam veterans ] in the area who have had problems,” she said. “They are all really excited. It will help them all.
“ If they won’t come during the day, maybe they’ll come at night and maybe make some peace,” she said.
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