Vietnam War Memorial coming

MercuryNews.com: Vietnam War Memorial coming

For more than 15 years, a replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. has traveled to educational institutions throughout United States mainly in the east. But next month it will make its first appearance west of the Rockies.

DeVry University's Fremont campus will host "Bringing Home the Wall" Aug. 10-13, a scaled-down replica of the memorial.

The replica was created in 1993 by St. Cloud, Fla. residents Tom and Dee Twigg, 67 and 64, respectively, as an alternative for Vietnam veterans and their relatives who can't travel to the nation's capital.

A Vietnam veteran, Tom Twigg said the exhibit started out as a coffee table created by his wife called "The Missing Man" table.

According to the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia, the "Missing Man" table ceremony is a dignified, solemn moment in many formal dinners and other occasions. There have been many different ways to conduct the ceremony, but the message is always the same.

The table is typically set for six guests, and all the seats are empty. There's usually a white tablecloth with a single place setting, preferably white, accompanied by an inverted wine glass, a salt shaker, a slice of lemon on a bread plate with a pile of spilled salt, a small bud vase with a single stem red rose, a red ribbon tied around the vase and a lit candle. Each item symbolizes a different aspect of missing prisoners of war.

Tom Twigg said the mother of a Vietnam veteran who had been killed in action approached his wife at one of their Missing Man ceremonies over the 1994 Thanksgiving weekend.
The woman, who was seated in a wheelchair and using an oxygen tank, handed Dee Twigg the soldier's medals he earned during the war two Bronze Stars for bravery and a Purple Heart for being killed during service.

The woman told the Twiggs she couldn't make it to Washington to honor her son or his fellow soldiers, and wanted to honor them. The mother requested the medals be placed at the Missing Man table.

Upon hearing the story, Dee Twigg asked the woman to give her one year and she would bring the wall to her.

"It started out very small and was for the women like her who just couldn't get to the memorial," Tom Twigg said.

The original memorial wall is made up of two rock walls 246 feet, 9 inches long and 10.1 feet high. Each wall has 72 panels, 70 of which list all 58,129 veterans' names killed during the conflict.

The Twiggs' replica stands 46 feet long and 8 feet tall, made of a wooden frame and PVC.

Tom Twigg said it takes about three hours to set up.

He added educational institutions typically contact them to visit and teach students about the war.

However, Tom Twigg said the wall does make appearances at Veterans Affairs hospitals and veterans ceremonies all over the eastern United States.

He said DeVry University has been one of their biggest supporters, asking the Twiggs to about half a dozen of their campuses nationwide.

Wayne Anthony, director of public outreach at DeVry's Fremont campus and a Vietnam veteran, said it presented a great opportunity to bring the memorial and history to the Bay Area.

"We don't have anything like this in the Bay Area," he said. "The closest thing we have here is a memorial in Sacramento that honors our California veterans."

Anthony said the memorial will come to DeVry during the school's national open house week. That week will be dubbed "Red, White and U" to commemorate the memorial.

"We're just happy (the Twiggs) had this week off, because they travel everywhere. We're very excited to have them come here."

The wall will be displayed on the campus' eastern corner at 6600 Dumbarton Circle beginning at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 10. The national anthem will be sung and there will be a presentation of colors ceremony.

After the wall is displayed in Fremont, the Twiggs will move on to Phoenix.

Tom Twigg said attendance to the wall varies. But on one occasion in West Virginia as many as 20,000 people visited their display.

"We've been to hospitals where many times there are vets in wheelchairs," he said. "They get to touch the wall and get very emotional. It's their chance to say good bye."

Tom Twigg said questions from students at the many educational institutions they visit are amazing.

"Our kids really need to be educated," he said. "They're going to be our future leaders, and if they have to make a decision to go to war, they need to be educated about war and the consequences."