Retired Marine General to Speak at Traveling Wall Opening
– Special to 1340 WEKY-AM –
Retired Maj. Gen. Arnold Fields will join Governor Steve Beshear in speaking at the opening ceremony July 10 for the Traveling Vietnam Wall at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The American Veterans Traveling Tribute Traveling Wall, an 80-percent scale model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C., will be on display at the Horse Park from noon Thursday, July 9 through 3 p.m. Sunday, July 12. Eight feet high and 360 feet long, it provides an electronic locator to help visitors find the names of particular service members carved in the wall.
The Traveling Wall’s visit to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington is sponsored by the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs (KDVA), through a grant from the Kentucky Veterans Program Trust Fund.
Maj. Gen. Fields currently serves on the staff of the United States of America Vietnam Commemoration. He retired from the Marine Corps in 2004 after over 34 years of active military service. At the time of his retirement, he was serving as the deputy commander of Marine Corps forces in Europe and Africa.
“As Vietnam Commemoration partners, we are proud to have Major General Fields to represent the national Commemoration at this event,” said Commissioner Heather French Henry of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Governor will be the keynote speaker at the opening ceremony, at 10 a.m. on Friday, July 10, followed by retired Brig. Gen. Dan Cherry and Maj. Gen. Fields.
Visitors to the Traveling Wall are encouraged to leave photographs, flowers or other mementos to loved ones. KDVA asks that everyone attending this special showing of the Memorial Wall respect the request of the Wall’s sponsors to not bring weapons when they visit.
Visitors to the Traveling Wall and the opening ceremony will be able to enter the Horse Park and park free of charge. After it opens at noon July 9, the wall exhibit will be open 24 hours a day through 3 p.m. Sunday, July 12.
This year, Gov. Beshear proclaimed March 30, 2015, as Vietnam Veterans’ Day in Kentucky, as part of Kentucky’s partnership in the 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemoration. Last September, more than 500 veterans, family and friends commemorated that anniversary in a ceremony at the Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Frankfort.
A total of 1,104 Kentuckians died in the Vietnam War. In addition to appearing on the Traveling Wall, their names are inscribed at the permanent memorial in Frankfort, where a shadow falls on each veteran’s name on the anniversary of death.
There are approximately 111,000 Vietnam veterans living in the Commonwealth, and many continue to serve their communities and fellow veterans through volunteerism, counseling and camaraderie.
Gov. Beshear’s administration has worked hard to show support and appreciation for veterans and military families, in ways large and small.
For example, Gov. Beshear, state and federal officials this year announced the launch of telemental health services out of the Joseph “Eddie” Ballard Western Kentucky Veterans Center in Hanson, part of an effort to expand mental health services to veterans in western Kentucky. KDVA is also in the process of building a fourth state veterans nursing home, in Radcliff. Construction began in July 2013; the facility is scheduled to open around the end of this year.