Moving Wall comes close to home

By SHANNON HALL

Staff Intern

SPENCER -- The Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., is a long drive to go and see. While each name etched in the stone is worth is the gas mileage, a half-scale replica of the wall -- called the Moving Wall -- will come to Spencer this week.

The visit is scheduled for Aug. 8-11, thanks to Owen County's 4-H Fishing Team.

"It's going to be a very emotional and exciting event," Kathy Newman-Arthur, who is the team's leader, said. "My husband (who was the founder of the fishing team) was a Vietnam veteran, and the kids wanted to do something for him."

At 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8 a Huey Helicopter will fly in and land at the Owen County Faigrounds. An opening ceremony will begin at 6 p.m.

The closest the Moving Wall has ever been to Spencer was when it was in Bloomington in 1998. It also made a Putnam County appearance in the parking lot at South Putnam High School not long after it started touring the country.

The Moving Wall is the length of a football field, and it has toured the country for 29 years. Vietnam veteran John Devitt "felt the positive power of the The Wall," according to the Moving Wall website. Devitt wanted to give that chance to feel what he did to those who could not go to Washington. There are 58,282 names on the wall.

Newman-Arthur said the Fishing Team has raised the $6,000 it costs to bring the wall here along with the volunteers who travel with the wall.

"I am incredibly proud of my fishing kids for making this happen," Newman Arthur said on her website. "They even said they would use their camp money they have earned cleaning yards/mowing grass/working booths, etc., to help pay for it if we can't get all the money together."

They are still trying to raise the $2,500 for the Huey helicopter.

"When we got the helicopter, I thought it was the icing on the cake, and I didn't want to let go of this opportunity," Newman-Arthur said.

She said the Huey had flown tours in Vietnam, and Vietnam veterans could have ridden in it.

The Fishing Team is currently selling T-shirts that read "58,282 heroes" on the front for $15 to help raise the money for the helicopter.

"I don't want to say it's been a struggle to raise money, but in this small area -- that's a lot of money," Newman-Arthur said. "We have had a lot of financial support that is coming from a lot of different places we didn't expect."

Spencer resident Jim Coppedge will give a speech at the opening ceremony.

The 69-year-old Vietnam veteran said he's been to see the Vietnam Memorial in D.C.

"It leaves you kind of thoughtful and quiet," he said.

Coppedge served active duty in 1967 and 1968 where he was an electronic technician.

Coppedge said he thinks the traveling memorial will leave visitors with a similar feeling.

"I hope the county can appreciate it," he said. "I think it's worth the trip."