The ‘wall that heals’

By AMANDA RICKER Chronicle Staff Writer

As the rain poured down and the crowd sang “The Star-Spangled Banner,” many people removed their hats in respect and let the water wash over their faces.

The patriotic scene encompassed more than 100 people - veterans, elected officials and others - gathered in Bozeman’s Sunset Hills Cemetery Saturday to witness the dedication of the city’s new 250-foot-long replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall.

“There’s a metaphor here,” Col. Eric Hastings, a Bozeman resident and retired member of the U.S. Marine Corps., said as the rain continued to soak the crowd. “For those of us who served in Vietnam, we remember the rain.”

Hastings stood a few feet in front of the black-granite memorial wall, one of only three half-size versions of the Washington, D.C., original that have been installed in cities across the nation, he said.

Located on the south end of the Sunset Hills Cemetery, adjacent to Lindley Park, the memorial displays 58,000 names of men and women who died or went missing during their service in the Vietnam War.

Eight of those whose names are etched there were from the Gallatin Valley and 264 were from the state of Montana.

Hastings said it took him nearly three years before he was able to approach the original wall in Washington to look for his friends’ names. But when he did, he was surprised by the peace it gave him.

“The impact was comforting and helped quiet my rage,” he said. “It was not what I expected.”

Facing the wall can be easier for veterans if they’re able to do it in their own town, said Maj. Gen. Randall Mosley, adjutant general of the Montana National Guard and keynote speaker at the dedication.

The famous “wall that heals,” Mosley said, is one of the few war memorials ever to be replicated across the United States.

A Vietnam veteran conceived the idea for a national memorial after watching the Robert De Niro film, “The Deer Hunter.” The wall was designed by a 21-year-old female architectural student from Yale whose drawing was chosen from nearly 1,500 submittals.

The names on the wall are inscribed in the order the people died, Mosley said. The first soldier was killed while watching a movie. The last soldier was killed after the fall of Saigon.

The oldest soldier was 63 years old. At least five soldiers killed were 16 years old. More than 17,000 of the soldiers were married, eight were women and 226 were Native American.

“We are proudly and deeply indebted to our veterans,” he said. “They come from all parts of Montana.”

Nearly 1,000 soldiers were killed on their first day in Vietnam, Mosley said. Nearly 1,500 were killed on what was supposed to be their last.

Gomez Routhier, who served as a pilot in Vietnam, attended Saturday’s dedication ceremony with his wife, Mary. It was a noticeably emotional day for the couple. Gomez said there were several names he recognized on the wall.

“We’re here to show our respect to our veterans and to thank them for their service,” Mary said. “We’re very blessed to live in this country.”

Led by the Friends of the Sunset Hills Cemetery, Gallatin Valley community members raised about $100,000 in cash, labor and materials to buy and install the replica memorial.

“The people of this community have never forgotten where they wanted to go with this memorial,” U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Montana, said, addressing the crowd Saturday.

Back in 1995, more than 20,000 people came to see a traveling version of the memorial wall that was displayed in Bozeman temporarily. The replicas are available for communities’ to buy after they get too old to travel. Communities in New Mexico and Pennsylvania have also bought replicas.

Rehberg and Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger both spoke at the dedication. A representative for U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., read a statement from the senator.

A flyover by the Montana Air National Guard had been scheduled Saturday. However, it was cancelled, having been called to a more pressing engagement, Hastings said.

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