Vietnam Moving Wall opens in Bolton with parade and ceremony

Bolton Landing American Legion Post #961 and the Town of Bolton held opening ceremonies on Friday morning for The Moving Wall, a half-sized replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The traveling memorial will be open 24 hours a day in Bolton’s Veterans Memorial Park through 9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 22.

The morning began with the Bolton American Legion, the Lake George American Legion, Galloway Gaelic Pipes & Drums, New York State police, local officials and area veterans parading up Lakeshore Drive from the Bolton Town Hall to Veterans Memorial Park. Spectators lined the street, waving small American flags, with several raising their hands in salute to the veterans passing by.

A brisk autumn wind blew off Lake George, whipping the Color Guard’s banners around their staffs as Bolton Post Commander Kim Terpening stepped up to the podium to open the ceremony.

“I am not a Vietnam vet,” said Terpening, “I am a Gulf War vet, and at the end of the Gulf War, we came home to ticker tape parades in New York City. We came home to families waiting for us, and we came home to employers waiting for us. That did not occur for Vietnam veterans.”

Terpening then asked all Vietnam veterans to stand up. From the crowd of about 100, a dozen men rose to the sound of applause. She then asked all veterans and their families to stand. Again, the crowd applauded.

Terpening continued, “So this wall and these days are for remembrance, for gratitude, for us to share stories. It’s a wonderful time for veterans and their families to talk about how it was then, and I promise that all of us who are not Vietnam veterans will do our very best to forever welcome all of the Vietnam veterans home and to thank you for your service.”

Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Tony Marshall was a guest speaker at the ceremony. Marshall was shot down in North Vietnam in July 1972. He was captured and held prisoner for 270 days. The crowd greeted him with a standing ovation.

“I am particularly moved by the wall,” says Marshall, “because one of my high school classmates is on there, my pilot is on there, 12 of my academy classmates are on there, and for the grace of God, I would have been on Panel One West right next to my pilot.” He urged all those in attendance to take time to see the wall and to remember the 1,500 MIAs for whom there is no closure.

Bolton Town Supervisor Ron Conover invoked the words of Abraham Lincoln, saying, “As I look upon the wall, I see the names of men and women who gave their last full measure of devotion.” Conover praised the American Legion for their work in bringing the Moving Wall to Bolton and for their contribution to the refurbishment of Veterans Memorial Park, a project that was completed last month.

The Bolton Landing American Legion Post purchased two retired panels from the Moving Wall system and, from them, created a new Veterans Memorial, which is now the centerpiece of Veterans Memorial Park. Paul Terpening of the American Legion presented a plaque, which had been installed in the park, to Conover, in appreciation of the Town’s support for veterans in refurbishing the park and recognizing Vietnam veterans with the installation of the new memorial.

New York Assemblyman Matt Simpson said he was only a young boy when his family gathered in front of the television to watch Walter Cronkite bring the news of the Vietnam War to their home. “I didn’t feel the gravity of it— you just don’t, as a seven-year-old child, understand what’s happening in the world.”

However, in 2018, he traveled with colleagues to Washington, D.C. and visited the memorials. “I was just humbled,” he said of his visit to the Vietnam Memorial Wall. He said he realized, walking the length of the wall, that those more than fifty-eight thousand names are connected to families, they had lives, and would have had futures. This is what they sacrificed for so many.

The ceremony concluded with LTC. Marshall and Post Commander Terpening placing a wreath on the wall, followed by the playing of Taps.

Community volunteers will serve as docents during the entire 72 hours the memorial is open in Bolton. They will be stationed in the pavilion just north of the wall and will assist visitors with locating specific names by panel and line number. The American Legion has provided crayons and paper for those who wish to make rubbings, and a bucket of red carnations for those who wish to honor a fallen friend or loved one with a flower under their name.

Three panels under the pavilion hold photos of Warren, Washington and Saratoga County service members lost in Vietnam. Displays also include a panel of women, all nurses, whose names are on the wall, as well as recognition of lost journalists, missionaries, CIA, USAID, US Dept. of OICC, Red Cross, Army Special Services, Catholic Relief Services, prisoners of war and those missing in action.