A question was posed during a meeting this spring with veterans discussing the arrival in West Springfield of The Wall That Heals, the 250-foot traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington.
What if there are protesters?
“If there are protesters, we’ll call the police,” said someone. “It won’t be pretty if they show up,” said another.
Soon the room was engulfed in chatter. Discussion came fast and furious. People started to talk over one another. The boiling point was rising.
“We got spat on when we came home and it’s not going to happen again,” said a Vietnam veteran, his voice rising and face beet red. “I won’t take it.”
Then, amid the tension, came a voice that quieted the room.
“This is what it means to be a Vietnam veteran,” said Richard J. Tyrell, a Marine Corps veteran from Springfield, who at that moment, with eloquence and clarity, put it all in perspective for everyone in the room.
“There’s still anger inside but until we search for and find peace, we’re never going to heal,” he said. “That’s what The Wall is all about, and I think the community will come together and people will be proud of every name that is on The Wall and of every serviceman and woman who served in Vietnam. You can’t talk about the war without talking about what our nation was feeling at the time.
“And you can disagree with the war and still be proud of our veterans and you can honor them and thank them,” he said.
This wasn’t the first time that Tyrell, the 67-year-old president of the Springfield Veterans Activity Committee, has had to gracefully explain what it means to be a Vietnam veteran. He’s had lots of experience answering questions about the most unpopular war in American history and his own time in country.
The Vietnam war ended 41 years ago but remains a lightning rod for many. The more time I spend with Vietnam veterans the more I believe that there’s unfinished business here. Our nation is still healing.
At a wiry 5-feet 2-inches tall and 124 pounds, Tyrell still has that pit bull spark from serving in the Marines for 11 years, but he also has one special gift I wish more people had – empathy. So when The Wall, as it is more commonly known, arrives in West Springfield next week Tyrell knows that many of his fellow Vietnam veterans will choose to stay at home.
For many Americans, The Wall represents all that our nation lost when we sent innocent Americans halfway around the world to fight in a war that fractured our nation. But for Tyrell and thousands of other Vietnam veterans, The Wall is personal.
When Tyrell sees The Wall next week it will take him back to 1967 when he was a young man from the Forest Park neighborhood of Springfield, getting in trouble and up to the usual tomfoolery and being told that it was the military or going to juvenile detention. He’ll remember walking down to the recruiter’s office and enlisting in the Marines with his best friend, Theodore “Teddy” Griffin. Both got what they asked for – significant combat in Vietnam but Tyrell made it back and Teddy didn’t. Theodore S. Griffin’s name is on Panel W57, Line 26.
“When I see The Wall, I see Teddy,” says Tyrell. “He was a loving brother, a loving son and a really, really good friend. I miss him every day.”
Tyrell hopes The Wall will also serve another purpose – bringing people together. Those scheduled to volunteer at The Wall include veterans of all armed services and generations; youth from Boy and Girl scouts to Little Leaguers playing in a tournament next door in Westfield; employees from big stores like Home Depot as well as those from local mom-and-pop stores; and members of civic organizations from the Daughters of the American Revolution to Vietnamese-Americans.
All will travel across Massachusetts to pay homage.
Together, Tyrell says, the community can send a message to Vietnam veterans that we care and respect them.
The timing couldn’t be better. The statistical average age of a Vietnam veteran reaches 70 next year. About 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam and, by some estimates, nearly 400 die every day. Those veterans who made it back and who are still with us cannot help but look back.
For four days next week, time will stand still for our Vietnam veterans when The Wall comes to town.
What if there are protests? I think the chances of that are slim to none, but let’s just remember one thing. The Vietnam experience is not just a matter of military history or political policies, right or wrong. It’s about reconciliation. It’s about finding peace. It’s about young boys like Teddy Griffin and 67-year-olds like Tyrell.
They served our country during a most difficult time. Like the discussion in that meeting room last spring, our nation is still airing it out about the Vietnam War but now people are finally listening.
“And that’s how we heal,” says Tyrell.
John Paradis, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, lives in Florence and writes a monthly column that appears on the second Friday. He is a veterans’ outreach coordinator for VA New England Healthcare System.