By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
More than 58,000 names are inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Those names will be on display at Al Burns Field in Veterans Memorial Park through 2 p.m. Sunday. The Wall That Heals arrived in Great Bend Tuesday but officially opened to the public with a ceremony Thursday morning. Great Bend City Councilmember and Army Veteran Davis Jimenez spoke on behalf of the city.
"The city of Great Bend is truly honored to be able to pay tribute to such a wonderful endeavor," he said. "Thank you to each and every one of you for being here today, who helped make this happen for Great Bend. We're the only community in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Nebraska this year to host the wall."
Watch the video below of the setup of The Wall That Heals in Great Bend.
The Great Bend High School marching band played music prior to the ceremony. Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Great Bend native and the son of a Vietnam veteran, encouraged those students and more to never forget what the names on the wall are about.
"To you youngsters behind me, a lot of folks in the stands, they know names on this wall," he said. "I'm going to encourage you, as the next generation, to get to know a name on this wall this weekend. Pray for their family and remember the history, lest we ever forget. One thing my father told me was, if you see a Vietnam vet, and I see some here today, is make sure you take the time to say 'Welcome home.' I'm so sorry you didn't get that."
Larry Parsons, chairperson of the Leadership Committee that helped bring The Wall That Heals to Great Bend. He read the names of six Barton County servicemen who were killed in Vietnam, and he accepted a wreath in honor of five more from Pawnee County. Tuesday's escort of The Wall That Heals to Great Bend included the communities of Claflin and Hoisington to represent their own fallen soldiers.
Fallen servicemen honored locally were:
Conrad Francis Straub was born in Great Bend in 1946, but officially listed Claflin as his home. He was killed in action on Feb. 27, 1967, in Tay Ninh.
PFC Robert Eugene Riedel, born in 1945, was a Hoisington High School graduate. He was killed in Quang Nam on Aug. 31, 1965, leaving behind two siblings.
2nd Lt. John Stephen Simmons also called Hoisington home. He graduated in the top-10 percent of his class at Officer Training School. Born in 1945, Simmons was killed in action on March 1, 1968 in Dinh Tuong, leaving behind a wife a daughter.
Kent L. Amerine, a medic from Great Bend was born in 1943, and died Aug. 2, 1966. He left behind two sons.
PFC Edward Lloyd Saenz, also of Great Bend, was born in 1948, and was killed in action on Oct. 2, 1968 in Quang Tri. He left behind three brothers and three sisters.
Col. Carl Frederick Karst of Galatia was born in 1930, and was killed in action during a reconnaissance mission over Pleiku. His remains were returned 20 years after his death. He left behind a daughter and two sons.