NEWS

Veterans find names, healing on Vietnam memorial

Jenn Rowell
jrowell@greatfallstribune.com

Elizabeth Brower's daughter married Tory Drake Lawrence shortly before he left for Vietnam.

The daughter had a baby boy, and she sent a photo to Lawrence. Not long after that, her daughter was notified that Lawrence had been killed.

"We wondered if he knew that he had a son," Brower said, tearing up.

When the military sent Lawrence's things back to the family, the baby's photo was among them.

"So he knew," Brower said. "It's really just sad."

Brower attended the opening ceremony at The Wall That Heals in Elks Riverside Park on Thursday evening and walked along the memorial, which is a half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

A crowd gathered as Vietnam veterans and current service members paid tribute to the 58,300 names listed on the wall and to those still living.

Four of Larry Malby's classmates were listed on the memorial.

He said that for years after the war, he couldn't visit the memorial in D.C., but eventually a friend convinced him to go.

"I visited each of my friends," he said during the ceremony. "By the end, I was enveloped by a profound sense of inner peace."

Col. Tom Wilcox, commander of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, said current troops have such strong support from the American public because of Vietnam veterans.

"We learned some hard lessons," he said of the Vietnam war and the way veterans were treated when they returned. "We thank them every day for blazing that trail."

Bill Willing served as a helicopter pilot during the war. He flew 512 combat missions in support of ground troops, intelligence agencies and was often sent to recover bodies of those killed in battle. He is now chairman of the state of Montana's Veterans Affairs Board.

He told the crowd that as the American public lost interest in the war or turned on those who served, the troops took on a new military strategy.

"We fought for each other," Willing said. "We became brothers. Vietnam veterans have formed an everlasting bond of camaraderie."

Looking at the names on the wall often brings him to tears, he said, but it has become a focal point for veterans.

"The wall became a place that they were welcomed back to," Willing said.

Rod Sayer served in Vietnam from June 1967 to June 1968.

For Rod Sayer, it was a place to honor his friends.

The Great Falls native was drafted in 1966, when he was 19.

In Vietnam, he was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division and within his unit, he became friends with a troop he called Norm. He couldn't remember his full name as he searched for his friend on the wall, but he remembered the man.

Sayer and Norm were both serving as track commanders in February 1968 when Norm's vehicle was hit.

"I saw him look at me, I saw his eyes roll back and blood coming out of his mouth and then he was gone," Sayer said. "I was so busy there was nothing I could do. I'm sure I was the last guy he saw."

"I still have nightmares. I learned to cope with them, but I don't think they're ever going away," he said. "My kids probably don't know very much about it because I never talked about it."

A few weeks after he lost his friend, Sayer was injured when a rocket came through the scope he was looking through on a tank. He spent some time in the hospital, and when he went back to his unit, the 33 people who had started in his platoon were down to two.

Another friend of his was killed with just seven days left in Vietnam before he was scheduled to return to the U.S.

They were on their way back to base after a battle when one vehicle hit a land mine. Sayer and his friend got out to help the injured driver when another vehicle pulled up and hit a land mine. Shrapnel from that explosion killed Sayer's friend.

"I feel pretty fortunate to be here," he said.

Coming home, Sayer said, he was called a baby killer and there were no welcome home parades.

Years later, "I think it's wonderful that they acknowledge us," he said. "I'm honored that people still remembered it."

To see the Wall

The Wall That Heals is open 24 hours a day through Sunday evening at Elk's Riverside Park, 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 tday.

To learn more, visit vvmf.org