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Home : News : Commentaries : Display
NEWS | Oct. 16, 2008

Vice Commander's Comments

By Col. Donald Shaffer 437th Airlift Wing vice commander

Congratulations are due to all those Team Charleston members who worked tirelessly to make President George Bush's visit a resounding success. A presidential visit is an honor for any base to host, but the effort required to orchestrate the event is substantial. Working with the White House staff, Secret Service and local and national press on a wide array of issues can be a daunting task, but one which Team Charleston stood up for and once again demonstrated the tenacious "can do" spirit for which we are known. The event went off without incident and the White House staff and Secret Service team both said we "helped make their jobs easier." Where the safety of the president is concerned, no higher accolades are needed.

In addition to last week's event, many of you stepped up to the plate and volunteered as watchstander members for the Vietnam Moving Wall display that began Oct. 16 and will run until Oct. 20 - for that a sincere "thank you" is due. The watchstanders, drawing from all branches of the uniformed services, have and will continue to provide 24-hour, round-the-clock coverage for the Vietnam Moving Wall and will stand vigil during the four-and-a-half days the memorial is here. 

The Vietnam Moving Wall display arrived at the North Charleston Convention center Oct. 16, but its history takes us several years back. The Vietnam Veterans' Memorial located on the Mall in Washington, D.C., is a monolithic granite structure that contains all the names of the more than 58,000 men and women who sacrificed their lives during that conflict. The austere, granite face etched with the names of those who have fallen is a stark, personal and overwhelming monument. The memorial beckons your touch as a connection with the real flesh and blood people -- the lives unlived and unfulfilled represented in the etched names. Vietnam veteran John Devitt was so moved when attending the dedication of the memorial in 1982 that he dedicated himself to building a portable wall to ensure that those unable to travel to the monument would be able to experience what he had felt.

The aluminum half-size panels are viewed by 2-3 million people per year as the moving memorial makes its way around the country. The Vietnam Moving Wall has been to more than 1,000 hometowns and is scheduled more than a year in advance. There is no charge to view the memorial, and there never has been; the memorial exists through donations from sponsoring veterans' organizations and other groups and through the remarkable dedication of Mr. Devitt. Mr. Devitt demonstrates that service to your country and your comrades in arms does not end with separation or retirement, but is a lifelong commitment above and beyond the call of duty. Duty and honor are the noblest of callings no matter how it is manifest. I heartily encourage all Team Charleston members to please find the time while it is here to visit the Vietnam Moving Wall memorial.

We are ... Team Charleston. Take the Fight to the Enemy!