ASHEBORO — DeRita Summerlot was visiting from Orlando, Florida, when she noticed a memorial service happening Saturday at the traveling Vietnam veterans wall set up at South Asheboro Middle School.
She had an uncle who served in the Vietnam War and has visited the full-size Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., but stopped at the traveling wall, The Wall That Heals, to again honor her uncle.
“I think from past history, we did them a disservice,” Summerlot said. “And this is a way for us to make amends for that and honor those, again, that have been in service to our country. No matter what the circumstance, they gave their lives for us to be here to have the freedoms that we have today.”
Summerlot said it was an emotional experience to make a rubbing of her uncle’s name on the wall.
“When you see other people out there that are looking at names and pointing at names, you see the impact that it still brings to the local community. It just brings it all back home,” she said.
Randolph County Veteran Services had a mobile education center that provided insight into the life of Vietnam soldiers, and memorial events included ones by the Quilts of Valor quilting group, American Legion Post 87, AMVETS Post 905 and groups remembering women veterans and those who developed post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Veteran Service Officer Rita Honeycutt said the Women’s Veteran Summit was an important part of the memorial services at the wall. She was surprised by all the women’s veteran groups that participated.
Women’s service during the war is often overlooked, she said.
“Women veterans don’t typically identify themselves,” Honeycutt said. “We’re trying to get the word out there that they exist and have been here the whole time. It’s just that they have not been identified or are identifying themselves.”
Honeycutt said her office wanted to make more veterans aware of the resources available to them. Honeycutt has helped many veterans overcome homelessness, food disparities and difficulty getting medical care.
“Our job is to help veterans get what they are entitled to and they have earned,” Honeycutt said. “We are still working to get more for our veterans. What we do is crucial for the county. If we weren’t here, we’d have a lot more people that were struggling economically and would not have half the things that that they should have been getting the whole time.”
Becky Hinshaw of Seagrove said she has no family connections to the war but was inspired to visit the wall by “The Woman,” a novel about a nurse serving in Vietnam. Hinshaw felt a connection to this book as a nurse herself.
“ ‘The Wall that Heals,’ whoever thought of that, it’s just a simple little sentence, but I think it’s powerful even though I don’t know anyone personally on the wall,” Hinshaw said. “It still affects me personally, because I have freedom.”
Hinshaw said the wall changed her perspective on the amount of lives lost after the war. This was her first experience with a memorial wall that represents a unified message of respecting war veterans.
“No matter if you come home, it still becomes a part of you,” Hinshaw said. “There is a part of their life even though they passed away in the war. That is how war affects the whole family for generations. I can’t imagine how they would feel personally, but this was very moving.”
Vietnam veteran Tommy Robinette said he came to pay his respects to his friends whose names are on the wall. He handed out stars made from an American flag with sentimental messages to veterans at the memorial. The message is a reminder to veterans that they will never be forgotten and to remember their service to our country.
“I am proud to give my respect to my Vietnam vets,” Robinette said. “I think everyone that received a star today was brought to tears and they appreciated this small gesture.”
