The Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall arrived at the Rolling Acres Sports Complex in Lady Lake at around noon Monday with the thunderous sound of the more than 200 motorcycles leading the way.
The Villages Nomads, along with hundreds of veterans on their motorcycles, escorted the wall from Leesburg.
“Doc” and “Lucky,” Vietnam vets themselves and the caretakers of this remarkable piece of American history, opened the trailer holding the wall and asked for some volunteers to set it up.
Numerous Vietnam veterans identifiable by their vests, jackets, hats and other apparel stepped forward. “Doc” said it should only take a few hours.
Before they began, a list was started for veterans who wanted to carry the section of wall with their fallen “brothers” on it. They would be called to the trailer when that section of the wall was to be put into place. A long line formed and names of fallen comrades were given.
When one Vietnam veteran, Gary Woodruff, got to the front of the line, he was asked the name he would like to carry.
“That’s a hard question because there are many,” he replied.
When Woodruff was a lance corporal and assigned to USMC –Hotel 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines in Vietnam they were sent on a mission. It was Jan. 26, 1967, and it was operation “Tuscaloosa.” They were to cross a river and claim some territory on the other side.
“We were in the water crossing the river and just about to the other side when machine guns opened up on us. We had 57 wounded and 19 KIA in that river,” he said.
Woodruff carried section 14-E to its place on the wall. A section that listed most of his 19 KIA on the day, as names on the wall are listed according to their date of death.
Over the next three days there will be many stories like this around “The Wall.”
Local residents are encouraged to visit the wall and pay tribute to the fallen. The wall will be in place through Thursday.
There will be a book available with all 58,227 names of the fallen heroes listed in alphabetical order to direct people to the name they are seeking.
