The Band of Brothers, an informal club of military veterans, most of whom served in Vietnam, are already making firm plans for when the Vietnam Wall comes to Lady Lake. Some people appear astonished when they hear about this — because they hadn’t heard about the ‘traveling Wall’ — but once they understand, they welcome the opportunity to honor the brave veterans of that unpopular but deadly war.
November is more than six months away, but a large undertaking like this one requires lots of planning and lots of participation by willing volunteers to make it happen as it should.
The 302 foot monument will be shipped by ‘large load’ trucks in two nearly equal parts and re-constructed on a soccer field off CR 466 and Rolling Acres Road, near the American Legion Post #347. The Wall will be assembled on November 9, and will be on display Nov. 10-12.
The polished black Wall currently lists 58,267 names of those killed in action , including some names added in 2010. The monument is deeply meaningful to those who survived the Vietnam conflict — their family members and friends — and the public at large. Several memorial ceremonies and speakers are in the planning stages, to which the public will be invited.
El Cortez Village resident, Bob Sullivan (U.S. Army), is spearheading the effort to welcome the Vietnam Wall here for display; and Ray Leclair (USMC), from Winifred Village, will be responsible for wall security 24/7, with the help of local law enforcement personnel and volunteers.
“We want this to be an educational event,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been contacting area schools. We want our young people to know about the Vietnam War and the truth about what happened during that sad time in our American history. We want to share our story.”
The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is sponsoring the event. Shipment of the wall alone will cost $5,500.
Vietnam veterans, Jim Hill (U.S. Army) and Dave Dasinger (USMC), both from Tamarind Grove Village, will be responsible for having food and beverages available. Two U.S. Marine veterans, Robert Davis and Ralph Crane, will lead a large number of cyclists, who will escort the Wall from the Leesburg Harley Davidson dealership to its display venue.
“We consider the area where the Wall will be to be sacred ground,” Dasinger said. “It is an honor for us to do this. The Wall in Washington, D.C. and this traveling Wall — they are OUR Walls,” he continued. “We paid for them financially and with our lives. The Federal government didn’t invest a dime. This is OUR Wall. We are the survivors. The names of the men and women on the Wall, who gave their lives for their country, are our heroes.”
“We have been silent for more than thirty years,” Jim Hill said. “The Wall is our voice. The war officially began in June of 1965 and ended some ten years later — 1975, but we had advisors in that country several years before, and some of them were killed. The Wall has been a healing for a lot of the guys — to give them closure and remembrance. We are forever changed. Nightmares, flashbacks, but we are stronger because of what we endured. ”
“We will not discard anything that people choose to leave at the Wall when it’s here,” Sullivan said. “People tend to bring flowers, candles, teddy bears, dog tags and other types of mementos — to do something to honor the veterans . All items will be collected with respect and donated to museums, likely the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.”
“We were not welcomed home,” Ray Leclair said. “Fresh from the battlefield four days later we were home — and people and our Veterans Administration did nothing for us. We were ridiculed and pelted with eggs and tomatoes. Most of us did not wear our uniforms when we returned.” “I stayed in my uniform all the way home,” Dasinger said, “because I stayed in the Marine Corps — but that was a very bad time for all of us. This Wall is definitely a healing for me.”
Veteran Dolores Wilson, is heading up the beautification committee for the Wall. ” We’re working with Village Palms, on CR 466 near Rolling Acres Road, to beautify the wall and the area with red, white and blue flowers. They have gone out of their way to be helpful to us, and we really appreciate them.” “And Mike Burske, the Lady Lake director of Parks and Recreation, has pulled out all of the stops too ,” Sullivan added . “We will have a grandstand, and a platform for the ceremonies. We also will have to plan for traffic flow and parking.”
The Band of Brothers welcomes any and all honorably discharged U.S. military veterans — male and female — from all six branches of U.S. military service — no matter when or how they served our country. “We began with five or six guys about six years ago,” Sullivan recalled. “We met when we were getting therapy at the VA,” Dasinger added. “Some of us belong to other military clubs, but the Band of Brothers is unstructured — and we like it that way. We meet here at the Lake Sumter Landing City Fire restaurant on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for camaraderie. The City Fire folks — owners Mike and Gina, General Manager, Scotty , and everyone here, have welcomed us and have been very supportive. We can’t say enough good about them.”