Hundreds of community members, many of whom are veterans and their families, attended a Vietnam War memorial ceremony in Oneonta Thursday, Sept. 24.
The Wall That Heals is a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The sunset “Welcome Home” ceremony marked the first day of its presence in Neahwa Park.
The memorial is scheduled to remain there until 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27.
Many local officials and civic leaders participated in the event Thursday, which included recognizing individual veterans, laying a wreath in honor of U.S. service members killed or missing in action, and musical performances.
Gary Flaherty, the chief administrator of the Oneonta Veterans Outreach Center, fought in Vietnam. He said the event made him feel “emotional, always emotional.
“Even when I was in Washington, I’d go to the wall and a lot of my friends (are in there) from both high school and in-country,” Flaherty said.
According to the U.S. National Archives, 58,220 U.S. service members died in the war. Estimates vary for other deaths — Vietnamese soldiers on either side of the war and Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian civilians — but range from about to one to three million people.
Decades later, people remain impacted by the war.
Deb Dyer of Middleburgh said her husband, a marine and a sniper in the war, passed away in 2020.
“He had complications from service,” Dyer said, “but he passed through COVID.” She said one of his Middleburgh friends was on the wall, and she came to acknowledge him.
“I haven’t made it to D.C. yet, but it’s something that’s dear to my heart, obviously, and I just wanted to come and be a part of it today,” she said.
Dyer said she and her husband met after he left the service, and that he suffered from PTSD and other complications.
Neel Fredenburgh said he was a Navy boiler technician based in San Diego, California, working on ships returning from Vietnam. The Oneonta resident said he attended the ceremony Thursday because he has not been to the actual memorial.
“Now I can actually get a chance to view it and see if there’s anybody on there that I know, and hopefully there isn’t,” he said.
“But there is always a chance. I had a couple of friends that were in Sidney that joined. I have no idea whatever happened to them,” he said.
If Fredenburgh did find a name, he said, “I know they’ll be remembered for sure. Not only by me, but everybody else who comes to see.”