LENOX, Mass. — Like many of the people gathered on War Memorial Field on Friday morning, Cheshire's Lenwood "Woody" Vaspra could remember a time when remembrances of the Vietnam War were the last thing on Americans' minds.

 

"When Vietnam veterans returned home from Vietnam, there were no tributes, recognition, speeches, parades, even handshakes for us," Vaspra told the crowd gathered to open a weekend-long remembrance with the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall. "It was a very obscure re-entry into society. Many of the veterans came back either physically, mentally, emotionally or even spiritually broken — or a combination thereof. Some of them came back as POWs, who suffered many indignities while in captivity.

 

"It was not a very pleasant return for many of us who served in Vietnam. However, there were the fortunate veterans who were able to re-enter society, go to school, find a job and raise a family. But the Vietnam experience never went away."

 

And, through Sunday afternoon, visitors to War Memorial Field will have a chance to learn about and reflect on that experience.

 

The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall, like the Washington, D.C., memorial on which it is modeled, carries the names of 58,318 men who died over the nearly 20 years that America was at war in Southeast Asia.

 

While the ethics of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam are debated to this day, the sacrifice of the men and women who fought and died for their nation is undeniable.

 

On Friday, Vaspra was one of several Vietnam veterans who talked about that sacrifice and the war's impact on countless family members back home who lost their loved ones in the war.

 

William Sturgeon told the crowd that while most days, War Memorial Field is just a baseball field, he wanted them to treat it, this weekend, like sacred ground.

 

And at the outset of Friday's opening ceremonies, Rabbi Barbara Cohen and the Rev. Msgr. John J. Bonzagni gave invocations to set the tone for the event.

 

"Oh God, rich in mercy and compassion, we gather before you at this traveling wall, a symbol of sacrifice and remembrance, to honor the victims of the Vietnam War, their families, their loved ones and our nation," Bonzagni said. "Grant your healing touch to all who bear the scars of war — those who served, those who waited and those who mourn.

 

"Bring comfort to the hearts of families who lost loved ones and restore peace to the minds and spirits of veterans, who carry memories too heavy to bear alone. May this traveling monument inspire unity here among us, reminding our country of the cost of freedom and the importance of gratitude."

 

William "Smitty" Pignatelli, who was interim town manager in Lenox last summer when the planning of this weekend's display began, served as master of ceremonies on Friday morning.

 

The retired state representative thanked a long list of groups and individuals who made the weekend possible, including: Matthew and Hannah Keator, who led the fundraising effort to bring the traveling memorial to town; the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office for supplying portable lights to illuminate the wall over the next few nights; Dalton's L.P. Adams, for building the foundation on which the wall sits; electrician Scott Pignatelli for displaying the giant flag that greets people arriving at the site; the McCann Technical School students who created placards recognizing 27 Berkshire County residents whose names are on the wall; and Guido's Fresh Marketplace, which donated yellow roses to present the family members of those 27 heroes who were able to attend Friday's ceremony.

 

The day featured songs from Richmond native and Nashville, Tenn., artist Michael Fabrizio, a 21-gun salute from a local color guard of veterans and poetry, as delivered by Cohen, who read Archibald MacLeish's "The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak" and Skip Hoskeer, who read Patrick Camunes' "From the Other Side."

 

Sturgeon offered a moving meditation on the meaning of the sacrifice that the traveling memorial honors.

 

"Today, we honor every name that appears on this wall," Sturgeon said. "Each one of them gave their life. Let's pause for a moment. Their life. What does that mean? As I remember it, one moment, they were like all of us right now. The next moment, they were gone.

 

"Their lives they thought they would live of being happy and alive and thinking of marriage and kids and maybe coming home and going to college and facing life's challenges that we all face — the good times and the bad times associated with living. They never got that opportunity. They never got the opportunity that we have of growing old."