<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

La Center honors veterans

Town plays host to exhibits that include replica of Vietnam Veterans Memorial

By Marissa Harshman, Columbian Health Reporter
Published: August 5, 2010, 12:00am
3 Photos
Vietnam veteran Jack Schievelbein and his wife, Sherry, welcome the American Veterans Traveling Tribute to La Center on Wednesday.
Vietnam veteran Jack Schievelbein and his wife, Sherry, welcome the American Veterans Traveling Tribute to La Center on Wednesday. The La Center residents have visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., but plan to bring their family to visit the replica while it is in town. Photo Gallery

? What: American Veterans Traveling Tribute, which includes a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and exhibits honoring those who died in other wars from World War II to the present-day conflicts. The event will also include music, guest speakers, candlelight vigils, food vendors, a military car show and other activities.

? When: Open 24 hours a day until 5 p.m. Sunday.

? Where: Holley Park (formerly La Center City Park), 1000 E. Fourth St., La Center.

? Cost: Free, donations accepted.

? Website: http://www.lacenterhonorsvets.info

LA CENTER — It wasn’t Veterans Day. Memorial Day passed months ago. But if you were in La Center Wednesday, you would never know it.

Hundreds of people dressed in red, white and blue lined the streets. Children danced along the sidewalks, small American flags clutched in their hands. A large flag hung from the ladders of fire trucks from Clark County Fire & Rescue and Woodland Fire Department.

? What: American Veterans Traveling Tribute, which includes a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and exhibits honoring those who died in other wars from World War II to the present-day conflicts. The event will also include music, guest speakers, candlelight vigils, food vendors, a military car show and other activities.

? When: Open 24 hours a day until 5 p.m. Sunday.

? Where: Holley Park (formerly La Center City Park), 1000 E. Fourth St., La Center.

? Cost: Free, donations accepted.

? Website:http://www.lacenterhonorsvets.info

In the distance, the sound of police sirens and the growl of dozens of motorcycles interrupted the quiet afternoon. Residents and visitors along Pacific Highway and Fourth Street excitedly told people standing nearby, “They’re coming! They’re coming!”

Whistles and applause echoed through downtown as the parade of military veteran riders and police vehicles rolled through. Marine recruiter Sgt. Shun Almon stood in the middle of Fourth Street in dress uniform, saluting the passing motorists. The noise and excitement reached a crescendo when the main attraction arrived in a sea of motorcycles.

After months of planning, thousands of dollars raised and hundreds of volunteer hours, the American Veterans Traveling Tribute had arrived.

For the next four days, the city of La Center will host the exhibit, which features an 80 percent replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in Holley Park. In addition to the replica, which stands about 8 feet tall and stretches for nearly 390 feet, the tribute includes exhibits honoring those who died in other wars, from World War II to the present-day conflicts. A fence in the park is lined with 14 white banners featuring the names, hometowns and photos of Clark County soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq.

La Center Councilman and Vietnam veteran Al Luiz said for the next four days, the wall will serve as a place of reverence and healing.

“A lot of us veterans still have the war to deal with,” he said. “Vets are never done fighting the war until they close their eyes for the final time. And we have a responsibility to live for those who didn’t get the chance.”

“We’re celebrating, in a sense, those who wrote the ultimate check,” Luiz said.

La Center resident Becky Rembisz brought her two sons, 5-year-old Ben and 22-month-old Nate, to the welcoming event Wednesday. She plans to take her boys to see the wall up close so she can explain the meaning of the names to Ben and tell him about relatives who have fought in past wars.

“It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Rembisz said. “We may not get out to D.C. I want them to understand why it’s important.”

Tip: you can interact with this map using your fingerscursor (or two fingers on touch screens)cursor. Map

Vietnam veteran Jack Schievelbein and his wife, Sherry, also attended the event. Jack Schievelbein wore his red Marine Corps hat and collared shirt and stood with his hand over his heart as the motorcycles passed through town.

“I’m a veteran. And I come out and I wear my hat whenever I can,” he said, pausing to wipe tears from his eyes, “so I can honor the others who served.”

The La Center residents have visited the memorial wall in Washington, D.C., but plan to bring family members from Vancouver and Gresham out to this tribute. They expect the replica wall will be as moving as the real thing.

“When we saw the wall in D.C., what got us is seeing the individual names,” Jack Schievelbein said. “It’s so personal.”

The couple, who have family members in all branches of the military, were happy to see the support for the local event.

“The Vietnam veterans didn’t come home to a celebration. We were not welcomed back,” Jack Schievelbein said. “Nobody received a thank you. I know I didn’t.”

But now, he said, the tide is changing. The fanfare welcoming the wall to La Center is just an example of what’s occurring across the country, he said.

“There’s a groundswell throughout the whole country to understand freedom isn’t free,” he said.

Marissa Harshman: 360-735-4546 or marissa.harshman@columbian.com.

Loading...
Tags
 
Columbian Health Reporter