Readers of the Tribune are surely familiar with our “40 Years Ago” articles. The weekly section highlighting the news and photos from the paper that came out – you guessed it – four decades earlier, is one of our most popular features.
This week, as a “bonus” inspired by several conversations with some of our local veterans, we are featuring an event from “20 years ago,” when the Vietnam Wall Experience was on display at the Oval for several days in the summer of 2004. It took countless local volunteers and organizations to bring the Wall to town for what some of those veteran volunteers recalled being the largest event ever held in Livingston. It was a massive undertaking to bring this wall to Livingston, set it up, staff it 24 hours a day, and take it down all within five days’ time.
The traveling replica of the National Monument in Washington DC contained the names of 58,219 men and women who died or were missing in action during the war in Vietnam. The names were etched on the polished black face of the 204 foot long replica of the original in two long walls that meet at a vertex, creating a chevron shape. A purple heart, donated to the traveling wall exhibit by the mother of a fallen soldier, is embedded at the vertex. The names were listed in the chronological order that the soldiers were lost.
The slogan that accompanied the display as it traveled across the country reads: “A visit to ‘the Wall’ is a powerful emotional experience that teaches us the cost of freedom and inspires our respect for those who defend it.” That was true in 2004, and it remains true to this day. Two decades later, so many in town vividly recall the experience and what it meant to them.
We encourage readers to look at the photographs contained within this issue; some are from our archives, while others were submitted by Livingston veterans and volunteers who worked the exhibit in 2004. Also featured are letters, an editorial, and reporting about the event at that time. It was a special experience, and one with remembering and honoring.
