Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall leaves Parkersburg after four days on display

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - Veterans and other members of the community came to get one last look at the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall in Parkersburg City Park before volunteers began to take it down and pack it up on Sunday afternoon.

Navy Seabee Veteran Robert Codner says he visited the memorial several times while it was in Parkersburg. Codner says he and other veterans he met shared recollections of their service with each other. “You know, there’s a passage in the Bible that says, ‘No greater love hath a man than to give his life or his friends,’” Codner said. “And some of us saw that over there. Some guys that were here yesterday and Thursday, Friday. We talked about that. And a lot of them are alive today because a friend gave his life for them.”

Codner says he’s carried the memories of his service with him in the many decades since he returned to American soil. “There’s things that we remember that we don’t want to,” Codner said. “Every day we remember the sounds and the sights and the smell.”

Codner said he’s still proud of his service. He said the travelling memorial is a vital reminder of the over 58,000 American service members who their lives or went missing during the nearly two-decade-long conflict in Southeast Asia. “We don’t want anybody to forget,” Codner said. “Never forget the sacrifices that was given for you. And everybody that sees this. Those -- those were people’s lives.”

The travelling memorial will return to its home state of Texas for display through October before being taken to Arizona for display in November.

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