The Wall That Heals opens Thursday
Ronald Saville of Fort Benton enlisted nine days after his 18th birthday in the late 1960s to avoid the draft.
He was assigned to Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1967 and by July, he was bored with the base so he volunteered to go to Southeast Asia. Saville was sent to Thailand with the 635th Security Police Squadron at U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Base.
There he was assigned to the base security section and later transferred to work with sentry dogs, which were trained to seek out and attack anyone but their handler, Saville said.
On July 19, 1969, the day before the first moon landing, Saville said a B-52 bomber was taxiing out for a bombing mission when the hydraulics caught fire. The flight crew escaped, he said, and a fire rescue helicopter was sent to the scene. The bomber exploded, causing the helicopter to crash, killing two of the three crewmen onboard.
Saville was driving to the dog kennels after the injured had been taken to the hospital but saw emergency responders removing the remains of the two dead crewmen.
Saville was 19 at the time and was one of thousands who were sent to war in Vietnam and other nearby countries.
Saville said while he didn’t know anyone listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, he does know several troops who died from service-connected injuries and exposure to Agent Orange.
Today, a half-scale replica of the memorial in Washington, D.C., will open to the public at Elk’s Riverside Park in Great Falls.
The replica, known as The Wall That Heals, is the only traveling replica that is sanctioned by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the nonprofit that built the original memorial in 1982.
On Wednesday, about 20 airmen from 819th RED HORSE Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base were helping assemble the display. They made quick work of the assembly process and spent some time chatting with local Vietnam veterans and the man who drives The Wall That Heals cross-country, Bob Dobek, who is also a Vietnam veteran.
Staff Sgt. Christopher Gargus volunteered to help.
“It’s a chance to honor people that fell during the Vietnam War,” he said.
Gargus comes from a military family and has been in the Air Force for almost eight years.
“That era was pretty much what started how we operate as a military today,” he said. “As young members of the military, we try really hard to honor what they started.”
Here are the Great Falls-area names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the panel they are located on:
• Allinson, David Jay, Air Force, Helena, 9E 129
• Anderson, George Rolan, Army, Helena, 41W 20
• Appelhans, Richard Duane, Air Force, Dodson, 28E 15
• Backeberg, Bruce Burton, Marine Corps, Helena, 10E 116
• Baker, Jack Marvin, Army, Ronan, 7W 39
• Barber, David Lynn, Army, Denton, 52E 33
• Barnum, Wayne Alan, Army, Ronan, 37W 61
• Barton, Jim Albert, Marine Corps, Great Falls, 25W 20
• Biberforf, Dennis Floyd, Army, Great Falls, 23W 50
• Brown, Robert Raymond, Army, Fort Peck, 15W 12
• Casey, Dennis Lee, Marine Corps, Lewistown, 22E 6
• Chopper, Franklin Delano, Army, Brockton, 21E 96
• Christensen, William Murre, Navy, Great Falls, 5E 93
• Cole, Raymond Allen, Marine Corps, Great Falls, 32W 93
• Curl, Franklin Newton, Air Force, Great Falls
• Darcy, James Leo, Army, Helena, 17E, 111
• Dellwo, Thomas Albert, Army, Choteau, 4W 48
• Dempsey, Jack Ishum, Navy, Helena, 8E 56
• Doane, David Walter, Marine Corps, Browning, 46E 45
• Ehnes, Richard Lee, Army, Great Falls, 12W 29
• Ell, Allen Charles, Army, Valier, 5W 69
• Elmore, Kenneth Glenn, Marine Corps, Great Falls, 16W 73
• Ewing, Ronald Arthur, Army, Chinook, 54W 10
• Ferguson, Ronald Bruce, Army, Great Falls, 27W 73
• Fish, Glenn Charles, Army, Great Falls, 46W 40
• Fisher, William John, Marine Corps, Arlee, 10E 132
• Flanagan, Russell David, Navy, Great Falls, 31W 91
• Frank, Edward Roy Sr., Army, Helena, 20E 26
• Frazier Richard Beryl, Army, Lincoln, 5W 123
• Fuhrman, James Francis, Army, Larslan, 33E 36
• Garritty, William John Jr., Navy, Havre, 11E 110
• Gore, James Raymond, Navy, Sunburst, 9W 82
• Green, Robert William, Navy, Harlem, 13E 125
• Grose, Thomas Neil, Army, Helena, 31W 44
• Haakensen, David Arnold, Army, Big Sandy, 11E 130
• Habets, Gregory Lee, Army, Valier, 28W 46
• Healy, Louis Glenn, Marine Corps, Dodson 53W 19
• Hendrickson, Michael Franc, Marine Corps, Great Falls, 50W 6
• Hensley, Mark Alan, Army, Great Falls, 7W 73
• Hinkle, Mark Gordon, Army, Havre, 3E 14
• Hood, Roger Willam, Army, Choteau 27W 73
• Jodrey, William Michael, Army, Shelby, 28W 61
• Johnson, Lyle Albert, Great Falls, 27E 54
• Johnson, William Michael, Marine Corps, Great Falls, 52W 23
• Kegley, Joe David, Army, Great Falls, 9E 80
• Kelso, Todd Duane, Army, Sunburst, 58W 20
• Klemencic, Joseph Gordon, Marine Corps, Great Falls, 19E 72
• Knudson, Kenneth Max, Army, Saco, 6E 15
• Kojetin, Roger John, Army, Great Falls, 2W 95
• Kriskovich, Raymond George, Army, Butte, 49W 42
• Kucera, Richard Ralph, Marine Corps, Lewistown, 31E 59
• Kultgen, Alan Joseph, Army, Cut Bank, 11W 36
• Light, Glee Roy, Marine Corps, Lewistown, 56E 26
• McCarvel, Stephen Lewis, Army, Great Falls, 24W 98
• Miller, Bernhardt William, Army, Shelby, 29E 68
• Miller, George Daniel, Navy, Glasgow, 24E 33
• Naasz, Emil John, Army, Wolf Point, 7W 40
• Neiss, Terry Duane, Army, Havre, 1W 20
• Nelson, Stephen Carl, Marine Corps, Great Falls, 18E 87
• Nordahl, Lee Edward, Navy, Choteau, 4E 29
• Peterson, Duane Kenneth, Army, Coffee Creek, 16W 89
• Petrie, John James, Army, Cut Bank, 30W 94
• Pomery, Alexander P., Army, Great Falls, 20W 88
• Richardson, Roger Paul, Air Force, Great Falls, 16E 48
• Salyer, Stanley William, Army, Havre, 7E 106
• Schultz, Danny Carl, Marine Corps, Hinsdale, 5E 25
• Schwarz, Larry Edward, Marine Corps, Malta, 40W 60
• Seidel, Donald William, Army, Ross Fork, 51W 44
• Smith, Larry Max, Army, White Sulphur Springs, 30W 96
• Smith, Milton Warren, Army, Belt, 32E 97
• Srb, Ervin Rynolt Jr., Marine Corps, Great Falls, 20W 67
• Stengem, Peter Michael, Army, Havre, 26W 75
• Strube, Richard Hurrell, Army, Helena, 7W 80
• Summers, Jon Ray, Marine Corps, Helena, 24W 62
• Swensgard, William Elling, Army, Fort Benton, 26E 109
• Tillostson, Robert Virtus, Army, Helena, 52W 12
• Underwood, James Edward, Air Force, Choteau, 1E 120
• Urban, John Robert, Army, Helena, 1E 87
• Vandenacre, Howard Daniel, Army, Conrad, 18E 27
• Walsh, Truman J., Army, Dodson, 31W 61
• Webster, Christopher C., Army, Great Falls, 19W 26
• Weigand, Paul Gary, Army, Dodson, 10E 85
• Whetham, Vernon E., Army, Glasgow, 31E 19
• Willett, Robert Vincent Jr., Air Force Great Falls, 27W 103
— Source: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
To see the Wall
The Wall That Heals opens to the public this morning and the opening ceremony is 6 p.m. at Elk’s Riverside Park in Great Falls, River Drive North between 6th Street and 9th Street.
If you are a Vietnam veteran or know someone on The Wall and would like to share your story, call military reporter Jenn Rowell at 791-1484 or email her at jrowell@greatfallstribune.com. She will also be at the memorial off and on today and Friday.
If you have a photo of someone who is named on The Wall and would like to submit it through the Call for Photos program, bring a photo to the site and volunteers can help you submit the photo or give you more information.
To learn more, visit vvmf.org