Some wiped tears from their cheeks, others held them back but
couldn’t stop their lips from quivering as community members
dedicated the moving wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam
Veterans Memorial, Wednesday afternoon.
”
This is about as close as I get,
”
Vietnam Veteran D.J. said as he stood about 50 feet away.
”
I’m just not ready.
”
Some wiped tears from their cheeks, others held them back but couldn’t stop their lips from quivering as community members dedicated the moving wall, a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Wednesday afternoon.
“This is about as close as I get,” Vietnam Veteran D.J. said as he stood about 50 feet away. “I’m just not ready.”
Sponsored by the Hollister Independence Rally Committee (HIRC) and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), the wall will remain open to the public 24 hours a day through the weekend at Old Fremont School in Hollister.
As the dedication ceremony began, Hollister resident Donna Heikens was honored with raising the Prisoners of War Flag. Her father’s name is in the process of being added to the wall in Washington, D.C. He passed away from war related wounds five years after he was injured by a landmine in Vietnam.
“When you see this wall, it’s riveting, mind numbing and you become speechless,” Heikens said. “I think it’s amazing to have these names here who have helped keep this country’s independence.”
The dedication gave a special recognition to the nine names on the wall from Hollister. Organizer Linda Stamatopoulos enthralled the audience from the podium as she read a letter sent to her mother during the war telling her that her son was dead.
“April 8, 1969,” she read. “It is with deep remorse that I send to you this letter…”
Stamatopoulos’ brother Jerry was one of the 58,241 names on the wall. Having the wall in Hollister will give locals a chance to cope with their loss, she said.
“It’s an opportunity for people to heal,” she said. “Many people can’t make the trip to Washington, D.C. and this gives them a chance to find their brother, or uncle, or son’s name on the wall.”
Pastor Pierre Steenberg, of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, saw the wall for the first time yesterday afternoon, and said he was extremely moved.
“I felt my hand being pulled toward the wall so that I could touch the names, and as I looked at the names I saw my own reflection, my face looking back at me,” he said as he addressed the crowd. “I wasn’t just saying thank you for their sacrifice, I was saying thank you because if they hadn’t done what they did, I may not be alive today.”
HIRC President Bill Rodgers, who is the son of a World War II veteran, said he’s been trying to get the wall to come to Hollister for three years, and he’s thrilled community members have the opportunity to see it.
“Sixty to 70 percent of bikers are veterans so it’s great to have the memorial here,” he said.
Pulling the whole thing together was a community effort, Rodgers said. Along with support from the VFW and HIRC, the Vietnam Veterans bikers will provide night time security of the monument, and Pacific Gas and Electric has donated lighting for the entire weekend.
Volunteers will be on hand to help visitors find names on the wall and sketch them.
For the past 20 years, the wall has been moving around the country to various communities. It’s next stop is New Mexico.
Veteran Juan Majan said it’s important for people to come see the wall when it stops in their town.
“For those who haven’t seen it, the price of freedom isn’t free,” he said. “Those names on that wall, that’s the price of freedom.”
