NORMAN — For years, Paul Wilson resisted the urge to visit The Wall.
Vietnam, for Wilson, was a painful reminder of a tough time in his life and the life of his country. It was tough to talk about to folks who had not shared the experience.
But he was in Washington, D.C., at a conference, and someone urged him to go see it. He first checked the registry and looked up a buddy from his hometown who was killed before Wilson arrived in the country. He made an etching of his friend’s name. Then he found others. So far so good.
As he was leaving, a lone veteran in a wheelchair shared some wisdom that Wilson will never forget.
“Let it go, man. Let it go,” Wilson recalls the stranger saying. “It’s OK.”
That’s all it took to open a floodgate of memories. “I bet I sat there and cried for two hours,” said Wilson, an OU retiree and longtime college basketball referee. He served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968.
He’s among the hundreds of local Vietnam Veterans to visit the wall’s replica at Reaves Park this weekend. Volunteers will pack it up tonight before the fireworks show and head east.
n n n
For Curt Peters, a visit to the wall here or in Washington, D.C., is personal. His older brother, David A. Peters, died April 4, 1968, after attempting to locate and medically evacuate fellow soldiers during combat operations in Vietnam.
“It just brings back the memories of what I haven’t had for all these years,” said Peters.
Both were in the Army and served in Vietnam at the same time. Their last visit was in 1967 when Curt was wounded and David visited him in the hospital. “That was the last time I saw him,” Curt said.
David, an OSU graduate, and Curt joined the Army at an early age. Their father was in the military. Curt retired as a colonel in 1990 and most recently retired as director and CEO of Norman’s J.D. McCarty Center. David went into the Army in May of 1965 and Curt in May of 1966.
David’s family and friends annually give an award to an OSU ROTC cadet. Peters has presented the award to the fellow Cowboy who demonstrates great leadership potential. Curt’s sister and his granddaughter have also done the honors.
He visited the wall replica Friday afternoon and was planning to take his granddaughter there later that day.
“It’s OK standing there looking at it, but when I start thinking about it, it brings out some deeper feelings.”
n n n
On a trip to Washington, D.C., my family etched Panel 04E, Line 017. Richard E. McWilliams, Norman High School Class of 1964. His parents buried him the day before Christmas, 1965, 10 days after he was killed in South Vietnam. Forever 19.
His parents, Terry and Felice McWilliams, were church friends of my parents. A plaque honoring Richard’s service hangs in our church.
Friends say McWilliams was preparing to come home and stepped on a mine that killed him instantly.
When the war was finally over and the last troops left, with his three sons watching, my father set off a cache of fireworks on the side of a hill next to our house. It was a celebration and an honor to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. A similar stash of fireworks sits on a shelf in my garage, awaiting the last troops to come home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Andy Rieger 366-3543 editor@normantranscript.com
