Traveling Vietnam Veteran wall visits Jackson

JACKSON, Tenn — For over 20 years, a group of Tennessee veterans has traveled the Volunteer State honoring their fallen brothers.

“We’ve been from Memphis to Johnson City with this thing,” veteran Charlie Hobbs said.

A traveling wall listing the names of soldiers from Tennessee killed in the Vietnam War made a stop at the north Jackson Wal-Mart.

“This has gotten 1,291 names on it, all from the state of Tennessee, and the average age is 20 years old,” veteran Tom Turner said.

The names are listed in chronological order by year and month killed.

“To us it’s extremely important,” Turner said. “We would do anything to be able to show honor to these guys. They gave everything. Some of us gave some, but they gave everything.”

The wall started in 1994, and veterans say it strikes emotions from all they meet.

“A lot of people have deep emotions when they come here,” Turner said. “We had one lady just walk by and started crying.”

“We met a gold star mother south of here, and I can’t remember her name, but she had never seen her son’s name on the wall, and she stayed with us for three  days,” Hobbs said.

All the memorabilia was donated by other veterans. Organizers say above all it’s about the brotherhood for those who served.

“We weren’t treated the same as veterans that returned from other wars, so it formed a brotherhood for us, and we are so tightly knit that we would do anything for our brothers,” Turner said.

“It touches your heart to come and put your arm around one of your brothers or sisters,” Hobbs said.

Organizers say they want to visit schools across West Tennessee and talk to students about the war.