Bud Hunt
Daily Dunklin Democrat
Bringing an exhibit like The Moving Wall to a community the size of Kennett requires a lot of people working together. When the opportunity first arose in March, Mayor Charles B. Brown was contacted about the amount of interest there might be in having the memorial here. He has visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and was familiar with the replica.
His concern was the expense involved. We put our heads together and found a way for the city and the newspaper to work together. The newspaper agreed to take on sponsorship and the city helped out with other expenses, including security, room and board for the associate of The Moving Wall while it is here, help in assembling and disassembling the memorial.
From there we moved on to addressing other needs where volunteers would be necessary. Primarily that involved finding volunteers to help visitors as they came to see The Moving Wall.
Once again the community has proven equal to the task. The total number of people involved in bringing The Moving Wall to town and who will have participated in its exhibit while it is here will probably number somewhere close to 300 people. Chances are good that's a pretty common occurrence wherever small towns across the country host the memorial.
If history is any indication, this will be an emotional experience for many who view the memorial. To family and friends of those men and women whose names are inscribed there this may well be a time of pain and sorrow. To others the enormous loss of humanity and what might have been will likely come to mind.
We will share our pain and sorrow this week as we visit The Moving Wall. Perhaps some of us can begin to understand why as we move toward what has at times be called, "The Healing Wall."
--Bud Hunt
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