Mississippi III

I was browsing the internet, searching for new sites, when I came upon a photo that said "Mississippi Vietnam Memorial" I knew it was not "THE" Mississippi Vietnam Memorial because I had already visited that one in Ocean Springs. Long time readers may remember that it was the one that got this project off the ground.

Additional research told me who the sculptor of the second memorial was and I called her. We had a great conversation and she explained that they had not meant "THE" Mississippi memorial but the Mississippi memorial that they had done, located in Tunica. After she filled me in on it some, she said, "When you visit it, please come to Memphis and see us, we are only 30 miles away.

So, after visiting Tunica and the memorial I drove to Memphis. I had only intended to drop in and spend a few minutes, but they were such nice people I ended up spending much of a day with them. This was interesting because they told me a lot about the sculpting process. but, the big surprise came just as I was getting ready to leave. Her husband said, "Hey, he should go meet "Charlie!" she said, "What a great idea, let me give him a call" I said, "Who is Charlie?" I couldn't believe what she said next. "Charlie is the guy who cut the names on The Wall in D.C. and he lives here in Memphis. Well. I had a great meeting with "Charlie" and perhaps I will write more about that in a later post. Now, let's get back to the Tunica, Mississippi Vietnam Memorial.

Tunica is a small town, perhaps best known, these days, for gambling and in the center of a median strip through town is the memorial.

The theme of this one, like so many others, is of buddies helping buddies. It makes me wonder why we seem to be able to do this in war time, but not so much in our every day lives.

 

The final two shots are of the signs located in the little plaza.

These have a little info not always seen. The breakdown of deaths and injuries is unusual and of course changes from year to year, so to see "Historical" notes is interesting. This past May, 14 more names were added to The Wall in D.C. bringing the total to 58,300. One additional name has already been designated for addition next May, I wonder if it will be the last?

Next time, on the 12th, we will return to Montana, so, as always, join me there at 9:00am.

To see additional memorials from Mississippi, or any other state, click the name of the state on the left side of this page.