Opening Ceremony of The Wall That Heals in Port Townsend

Thursday was a deeply emotional day for everyone who attended the opening ceremony of The Wall at JC International Airport. The ceremony featured poignant speakers, including Erik Brinch and Marvin G. Shields' widow, Mrs. Joan Shields-Bennett. She shared cherished family memories of her husband’s last visit home before he died in Vietnam in 1965. Her husband is the only US Navy Seabee to ever receive the Medal of Honor. Erik gave a very emotional talk about his long-term goal to bring the traveling replica of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial to Port Townsend to honor several local friends who lost their lives during the war. I’m sorry I didn’t make a note of their names.

Though I wasn’t prepared to take photos other than a few of the ceremony, the profound impact of The Wall and the heartfelt moments of friends and family making etchings of their loved ones inspired me to ask a couple of families if they would like photos. While I won’t share them here without permission, I gave them my email so they could reach out to me to receive their photos. One was the family of Stephen Lopeman, another was a woman honoring her father, Monte DeVere who died in Vietnam, and the last was a friend paying tribute to a well-known photographer from his Dad's unit. Byron G. Highland was a Marine Corps Combat Photographer who died in 1967. They brought a photo of Byron and stood before his name on The Wall.

I recall the controversy surrounding The Wall’s design by Maya Ying Lin and its dedication back in 1982. Yet, all that can fade away when standing in front of this replica and witnessing the solemn presence of over 58,000 names of brave men and women etched into The Wall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Glenn_Shields https://www.vvmf.org/.../The-Wall-That-Heals-Port.../...