Vietnam Memorial Wall

The replica of the Vietnam Memorial came to town today, which meant a lot to many people in our area. I actually saw this same memorial 21 years ago in Omaha, when we'd spent a day at Peony Park. For some reason, I was still there after dark by myself and I wandered into an area nearby that had grass and trees, and this long black wall. The memorial was on display there so I had a little time alone to walk around and check it out. This was a month after my dad had died, and from that whole experience it definitely made me appreciate what I was looking at.

Today the Wall was set up right next to the lake, and the wind was HOWLING. Not blowing. It was gusting to about 50 miles per hour.


Here are some more of my pictures from today:







Shay's school bussed the kids down to be at the opening ceremonies, which I was happy about. I met up with Shay and his friends, explaining what the wall was about and the adjacent displays. They were speechless. They couldn't believe that all the names they were looking at were people who'd given their lives.


The Wall was brought to our community in conjunction with a fundraiser that a local group has put together. They are trying to raise money to build what is being called the "Freedom Bridge." They want a permanent memorial built in honor of all veterans, right next to the London Bridge.
They announced today that their official spokesman is Michael Biehn, who is from Lake Havasu as well as his very prominent family. Dad had the first big law firm here, and his brother owns a chain of daycare centers.
If he hadn't been pointed out, I wouldn't have recognized him. He was standing right next to me!!

So we got a photo together.


If you aren't familiar with Michael Biehn, you might want to Google his work. He moved to L.A. from Havasu when he got out of school and starred in the first Terminator movie, Tombstone, Aliens, The Abyss, The Rock; he seemed to be a regular player in James Cameron action flicks. I will always know him as John Connor's father in Terminator. You know, trench coat, shotgun, Linda Hamilton.....

Okay, so he's changed a little in the past 30 years.....