The Moving Wall memorial to visit FMU

Rachel Droze, Editor-in-Chief|October 14, 2016

FMU and the Florence community will welcome The Moving Wall Vietnam memorial to campus at the end of October.

The university will host an opening ceremony for the wall at 5 p.m. on Oct. 27 outside the Rogers Library followed by a reception at Wallace House. Gen. James Livingston, a Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient, will give the address for the ceremony. The color guard from Mullins High School and a local brass quintet will also be a part of the ceremony.

The Moving Wall will be on campus from Oct. 27 to Oct. 29.

Dr. Jon Tuttle, who is currently teaching a course on Vietnam and American culture, led the efforts to bring the wall to FMU.

“There are many people who have never and may never get to see the actual Vietnam Veterans Memorial,” Tuttle said. “It occurred to me that having The Moving Wall visit campus would be great for that class and for everybody else in the community.”

Tuttle said he worked out the logistics and presented the idea to FMU’s president, Dr. Fred Carter.

“President Carter was very supportive from the moment he heard about it,” Tuttle said. “Everyone on campus has rallied around the project, and I think it’s going to come off quite well.”

According to Tuttle, the grounds and physical plant crews will be building a platform for the wall to sit on as well as a stage for the ceremony and a mount for the flagpole.

Tuttle said several people across campus are helping to make the event possible. Carter provided the funds; John Kispert, vice president for business affairs, helped with the logistics; Patrick Boswell, director of facilities services, is preparing the grounds for the wall; and Susan Orrico, coordinator of special projects, is helping to orchestrate the event, Tuttle said.

“It’s a very moving, very solemn memorial to those who died in one of our most complex and controversial wars,” Tuttle said. “It’s our way of acknowledging Vietnam veterans who were not given the respect that they were owed upon their return. The fact that there are over 58,000 names on that wall gives you a sense of the scope of America’s loss.”

According to themovingwall.org, The Moving Wall is half the size of the actual Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and has been on tour across the U.S. for more than 30 years.

The Moving Wall was on display at FMU in the mid- 1990s, according to Tuttle.