Traveling wall reminds Iowa Speedway visitors of the cost of freedom

Although it is 80 percent of the size of the real Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT) Wall still has the more than 58,000 names of the service members who died in the Vietnam War inscribed on its surface, which in the right light can reproduce its signature reflective quality.

John McMahon, 69, of the Jasper County Vietnam Veterans group, is a Vietnam War era veteran who helped put the wall together — along with many other veterans — for visitors of the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at the Iowa Speedway. Local veterans viewed the wall in its entirety on July 21.

“It reminds me of the one in D.C.,” McMahon said. “…For anybody who has a relative on the wall, I think it can give them some closure. It’s reassuring to know somebody has remembered them. For the Vietnam veterans who came back, there were no parties thrown. They just went back to work.”

When McMahon returned to work at Maytag following the war, he said none of his colleagues ever brought up the war. As someone who did not deploy to Vietnam, he didn’t know many others that served. In fact there were a number of fellow workers and supervisors who were combat veterans.

“I had no idea, and I didn’t learn about it until much later,” McMahon said. “The Vietnam combat veterans I worked with at Maytag just didn’t talk about it.”

The traveling wall itself may not hold a candle to the real thing, but Jerry Nelson, post commander of the American Legion Post 111, said it still has all the names and that’s what is important. The memorial in Washington, D.C. is hard to explain, he said. It is a completely different experience to see the original.

“But this is great representation of it,” Nelson said. “If you can’t get to D.C., this one’s not bad. It’s also an opportunity for people who wouldn’t have went out of their way to come see it, and when they see it they feel the impact of it. They maybe have a little better understanding of what we’ve sacrificed in those years.”

Accompanying the wall were other exhibits displaying the names of the people who died in 9/11 and the service members killed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other patriotic tributes. Nelson was very impressed with these extra exhibits, particularly because he served during Afghanistan.

“These are great, too,” Nelson said. “For me, the Iraq and Afghanistan wall, I personally know at least 20 to 25 folks on that wall.”

AVTT is committed to traveling across the United States showcasing the wall and the Cost of Freedom Tribute to honor, respect and remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. The group is owned and operated by U.S. military veterans and was originally formed in 1998.