Dinner date holds extra meaning for local veterans

Clark County

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November 11, 2009

Red Cross recognizes Moving Wall volunteers

BY BRADEN LAMMERS The News and Tribune Wed Nov 11, 2009, 11:23 PM EST

When he came home from the Vietnam War over 40 years ago, Chuck Grose was told not to wear his Army uniform back into Clark County.

At the time a contentious debate about the United States involvement in the war was raging causing many of the soldiers service to their country to be overlooked.

Almost four decades to the date after the lifelong Clarksville resident returned home he received the recognition for his service through the visit of The Moving Wall memorial.

“That was the parade, that was the thank you and most of all that was the welcome home,” said Grose a Veteran’s of Foreign Wars district officer and member of Post 1427.Another “thank you” was being offered Wednesday evening as the people that volunteered during The Moving Wall’s visit to the Clark County 4-H Fairgrounds were treated to a dinner hosted by the Clark County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

More than 400 volunteers gave their time to help while the wall was on display, which was erected for five days, open 24-hours a day, and hosted over 5,000 visitors.

More than 175 of those volunteers also signed up to attend the dinner.

The icing on the cake for many in attendance was that the event was hosted on Veteran’s Day.

“This makes today a particularly fitting day for a celebration such as this to honor all of our veterans in the community,” said Mary Kramer, Clark County Red Cross board chair.

For Mary Lou Densford, service to arms program coordinator for the Clark County Red Cross, volunteering at the wall was a way to show appreciation and acknowledge the contributions veterans have made.

“It’s everybody of all ages giving back to the veterans for what they gave to us,” she said. “We get more out of it than they do,” she added about her experience volunteering at the wall.

The most rewarding part of the experience for Densford was being able to listen to veterans trade stories with one another, late at night and opening up about their time spent in Vietnam.

But she was not alone in her praise for getting to be a part of the event.

“My husband is a deceased Vietnam vet and it meant the world to me and his kids,” said Ruth Ann Rawlings, president of the ladies auxiliary of the VFW post 1427. “It gave a lot of people an opportunity for some closure.”

Resoundingly, the only complaint anyone could offer about The Moving Wall’s visit to Charlestown was the weather. But even the four days of cold temperatures and heavy rains couldn’t put a damper on the experience of the volunteers.

“But you know, even everybody laughed about [the weather] and said, ‘you know it’s just making us know what they went through in Vietnam,’” Rawlings said.

Densford agreed offering that dealing with the weather was a small sacrifice.

“If you talk to the vets that’s what they fought in all the time, so if they fought in it...the least we can do is stand in it and honor them,” she said.

The dinner being hosted on Veteran’s Day was an added layer of significance for the volunteers.

“It kind of puts everything into perspective for what these people actually do and the sacrifices that they make on a daily basis,” said Donna Ennis, who helped organize The Moving Wall’s visit.

For the veterans of Vietnam the appreciation was obvious.

“We have a lot of guys that it’s really hard for them to go to [Washington] D.C. and this was kind of like their full circle,” Grose said. “They did it for us and it’s their way of saying thank you to us. I love them all.”