KEENESBURG — A package of Juicy Fruit gum, a half-pint of Jack Daniel’s whiskey, a Sara Lee pound cake and a jewel-encrusted cigarette lighter — all were left as tribute at the base of a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that drew visitors to Keenesburg on Sunday.
A tearful Loni Anderson, 47, dropped an American flag below the black panel containing the name of Gregory Lee Anderson, her brother-in-law.
“This is very difficult; they were all babies,” she said of the more than 58,000 Americans killed or missing in Vietnam whose names are inscribed on the memorial.
Visitors to the movable wall, a scaled-down model of the memorial in Washington, included gray -haired veterans and children born decades after the war ended in 1975.
Arvada resident Kent Jensen, 66, made copies of the names of three friends who died in combat.
“I didn’t think it would be this hard,” he said, choking back sobs. “All three of them volunteered to go. I was fortunate and didn’t go. I spent eight years in the National Guard and then got out and did other things.”
Penny Johnson, 50, was in high school as the war was winding down. “I was just 18 when it ended. I remember watching the news about it every night. It is sad, it is just so sad,” said Johnson, who came from Northglenn with her husband, Gilbert Johnson, 55.
He was there to remember Gregory Heggen, the older brother of the best friend he had when they went to high school in Adams County.
“He was handsome, blond; the family had German ancestry and when it was me and (the Heggen brothers), I know the girls really liked them.”
Jannelle Mock, 32, grew up in Keenesburg in the years after the last American died in Vietnam.
The exhibit made her think about the sacrifices that others have made, she said. “They helped to keep us free,” she said.
A small table set for four sat in front of the black aluminum panels that make up the half-size replica. The settings represent those still missing in action.
Jenna Pralle, 14, was helping visitors to look through books containing the names of those listed on the wall.
“Some seem sad, but there are some mixed feelings, I think,” she said of those who came looking for the names of friends and loved ones.
Jensen said his friends’ names made him sad that they didn’t have full lives. “But they did the things they wanted to do knowing full well the possibilities. Freedom is not free.”
“The Moving Wall” has been touring the country for more than 20 years. Keenesburg American Legion Post 180 hosted the exhibit, which was at the post through the weekend.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
