The United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team retires the colors during the closing ceremony for The Moving Wall on Monday, June 15, 2009. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
LAKEPORT – After months of work and planning, and several breathless days filled with ceremonies, visitors and memories, the community paused on Monday to bid farewell to The Moving Wall.
The traveling Vietnam memorial opened June 11, and on Monday it was time for it to prepare to move on to its next stop in Marinette, Wis.
Vietnam Veterans of American Chapter 951, who brought the wall to the county, held the closing ceremony at 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Chapter President Dean Gotham said that more than 3,000 visitors – an estimate he called conservative – came to pay tribute at the wall over its four-day visit, making the wall's appearance “a true community event.”
The event's guest speaker was Art Grothe, a prosecutor in the county District Attorney's Office who, in March, returned from his second tour of duty in the Middle East.
Beyond his own service, Grothe had another connection to the memorial.
“My brother's name is on that wall,” he said, recalling his brother, Lewis Grothe – known to his friends as “Jeep.”
Lewis Grothe is one of 10 local men whose names are on the wall. He served in the Army's First Infantry Division. He died on Jan. 10, 1967, at age 20 in Binh Duong, South Vietnam.
Art Grothe recalled his family taking his brother to the San Francisco Airport in 1966, when he left to report for active duty. As the family was leaving the airport, Grothe said his father spotted a young Army enlisted man, and brought the young man along because he needed a ride. Grothe's father felt it was important to look after the young military man.
Grothe said combat zones are places of dirt, mud, lack of sleep and fear. Such places also, he added, are “a long, long ways from home.”
“Most in the military tend to develop a profound sense of caring for one another,” he said.
Much of that arises out of a sense of common experience and concern. Grothe said it's one of the greatest attributes not just of veterans but of the country.
In the case of Vietnam, the country didn't show such caring for its military. “Some confused the policy with the people in Vietnam,” Grothe said.
But that seems to have changed now, with the members of the military today appearing to benefit from a renewed sense of respect and honor from the country, he said.
The nation entrusts its liberties to young people who willingly go into dangerous places. Grothe said they're owed honor and support. “Your presence here shows you all understand that.”
Gotham thanked the community for its support for the wall.
Explaining VVA's reason for bringing the wall to Lake County, Gotham explained, “It was an act of love and support for those who paid the ultimate price.”
He quoted President John Kennedy, who said “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces, but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.”
Gotham said bringing The Moving Wall to Lake County offered the community to reveal itself and its priorities.
“Lake County stands very tall,” he said, adding that he's “so proud” of the county and its response to the memorial.
Gotham said the wall is “about the community that we all are.”
“Never forget,” he reminded the gathering of about 100 people.
He also offered thanks to his group and volunteers, the Royal Rangers – who during the ceremony stood at attention along the wall – and the Sea Scouts, the county Veterans Service Office, the Ukiah veterans clinic and Janet Taylor, a crisis counselor who spent many hours at the wall during its visit to offer support to grieving visitors.
Chaplain Herman “Woody” Hughes offered the closing blessing, with the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team giving the rifle salvo and a bugler playing “Taps.”
As the ceremony ended, bagpiper Peter Kapp appeared from beyond the far end of the wall, and slowly walked its length playing “Amazing Grace.” Some veterans wept during the final tribute, which Gotham said later was meant to be a “symbol of completion.”
Following the ceremony, as many people took a last look at the names on the wall, work to dismantle the wall began almost immediately, with the memorial supposed to be packed up by 4 p.m. It will leave Lakeport Tuesday morning.
Standing by to take the wall to its next stop was John Devitt, who – along with wife, Joy – is one of the wall's caretakers. Devitt, the founder and chairman of Vietnam Combat Veterans Ltd., the organization that created The Moving Wall, called Lake County's presentation of the memorial “excellent.”
Gotham noted during the ceremony, Monday was the 25th anniversary of The Moving Wall.
It was a quarter-century ago that Devitt, after having seen the Vietnam Memorial in Washington,wanted to share it with others.
A Vietnam veteran himself, Devitt said seeing the memorial – with more than 53,000 names of those killed in the war or who went missing in action – had a “profound impact” on him. Devitt also realized that not everyone would be able to go to Washington, DC to see it. So the half-size replica was created.
Devitt said he only expected to tour with the wall for a year or so. But it's gone “way beyond” his original hopes, with the wall going strong after 25 years.
“I'm sure it will go way beyond me,” Devitt added.
In that time it's visited close to 1,200 communities in every state in the union, as well as Guam, Saipan and Puerto Rico. Groups in Europe also have expressed interest in the past in hosting it.
There currently are two moving walls traveling the country between April and November. During the winter, Devitt and his volunteers make repairs and replace panels when necessary.
Devitt said they currently have 400 applications on file from communities wanting to host the walls. The waiting list can be as long as three years. In Lake County's case, VVA Chapter 951 applied in the fall of 2006 and received the OK two years later. This was its first stop in Lake County, as Lake County News has reported.
Devitt said the reaction in the communities he visits is positive. “You see the whole emotional gamut play out,” he said.
Like Grothe, VVA member Ed Moore, who volunteered to work on the wall project, has a brother on the wall. William Moore was a lance corporal in the Marine Corps when he became Lake County's first casualty in the war on Dec. 16, 1965. He was just 20 when he died in Quang Tin, South Vietnam
William Moore and Lewis Grothe were friends, said Ed Moore.
Ed Moore said he hasn't seen the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, but has an etching of his brother's name brought to him by friends who did visit the memorial.
That made the chance to see The Moving Wall just that more important. Moore said he believed the moving memorial had just as powerful an emotional impact.
He called The Moving Wall's visit to Lake County “wonderful.”
“Lake County can be proud of itself,” he said.
It's been 44 years since his brother died, and it's still difficult to deal with the loss, said Moore.
“I'm so very proud of him,” he said of his brother, adding that he's proud of everyone whose name is on the wall.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Art Grothe spoke about service and the importance of supporting members of the military at the losing ceremony for The Moving Wall on Monday, June 15, 2009. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
Bagpiper Peter Kapp of Boonville walked the length of The Moving Wall and played
Anderson Marsh is among 220 state parks the governor proposes to close, but a new study gives an idea of how much money the parks bring into their communities. Courtesy photo.
LAKE COUNTY – What's the value of local state parks to the county's economy? Based on a recently released study, the answer is millions of dollars.
As state officials consider a proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to close 220 of the state's 279 state parks – including Lake County's Anderson Marsh – a newly released study gives a look at just how important parks are to the state and local communities.
The California Parks and Recreation Department commissioned the study, which was conducted by California State University, Sacramento's Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration.
Schwarzenegger is suggesting the park closures – along with thousands of park employee layoffs – in an effort to save an estimated $143 million in state general fund monies.
But the losses incurred by the parks could be much greater than the money the governor is proposing to save.
The study found that 74.9 million people visit California state parks annually, spending an average of $4.32 billion per year in park-related expenditures.
It also reported that park visitors spend an average of $57.63 per person per visit, including $24.63 inside state parks and nearby communities, and $33 in communities more than 25 miles from the park being visited.
Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration faculty and students surveyed 9,700 visitors at 27 state parks representing the diversity of the parks system’s 279 parks. The survey was taken from fall 2007 to February 2009, according to the report.
Professor David Rolloff of Sacramento State's Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration told Lake County News that the closest parks to Lake that were in the sample were MacKerricher State Park in Fort Bragg and Mt. Tamalpais near San Francisco.
Of the visitors surveyed, 11.95 percent were non-residents of California, and their average spending per person was $184.91.
Based on the calculated $4.32 billion in park-related visitor expenditures per year, $1.66 billion is generated by non-residents of California, the survey found.
Rolloff said the study as been in the works for a number of years, with data collection beginning in 2007. It's part of a much larger study by the State Parks Department to look at visitors and park usage.
“One of the reasons why we decided to come forth with the data was that it's very relevant right now,” Rolloff said, referring to the proposal to close the parks.
A full report is due out later this summer, said Rolloff.
Rolloff called the spending figure of $57.63 per person per visit “pretty impressive,” especially in light of the tough economy in the last few years.
But that economic downturn has had another effect. “A lot of people are actually staying more local,” and choosing to enjoy nature at nearby state parks, he said. “It seems to be a pattern we're seeing.”
Debra Sommerfield, deputy county administrative officer for Economic Development, said the numbers the study suggests look right, and that she wouldn't be surprised that the numbers are accurate based on her study of tourism trends.
A report issued last year by the California State Parks Foundation found that Anderson Marsh is visited by 43,499 people each year, generating $2,060 in revenue, while Clear Lake State Park has 100,166 visitors annually, with revenue of $332,782.
If the Sacramento State study is accurate, that means that Anderson Marsh and Clear Lake State Park offer $2.5 million and $5.7 million, respectively, in benefit to the local economy.
Anderson Marsh was placed on the closure list this year, which has prompted local officials to write the state to seek alternatives. Last year Anderson Marsh and Clear Lake State Park were both included on a list of 48 state parks that Schwarzenegger had suggested to close to deal with the state budget crisis.
Clear Lake State Park was spared this year, because boating and gas tax revenue – not state general tax revenue – are primary funding sources. County officials have emphasized that keeping Clear Lake State Park open is a priority.
Sandra West, co-owner of Edgewater Resort in Kelseyville, said having Clear Lake State Park close by has benefited her business.
That park, she said, is full every summer with people who enjoy the lake, and it brings a lot of money into the county. West said she's also enjoyed a great relationship with the park and its staff.
She said the fiscal impact of the parks on the state and their surrounding communities is “huge.”
West said she knows that the state is having huge problems, but she would hate to see either of the parks close because of their value to the community.
The California State Parks Foundation is organizing a “Save Our State Parks Weekend” later this month.
They're encouraging people to visit their state parks and show support by wearing green or a green on the weekend of June 20, during which time they also can celebrate the Summer Solstice and Fathers Day. More information on the effort is available at www.calparks.org .
Reaching out to the past: Children visit The Moving Wall at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Friday, June 12, 2009. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
LAKEPORT – Hundreds of community members gathered on Friday morning for the solemn opening ceremonies for “The Moving Wall” Vietnam memorial visiting the county this week.
The 9 a.m. ceremony took place at the Lake County Fairgrounds on Martin St.
The event drew men and women of all ages, and veterans from many wars and generations – from Pearl Harbor survivors up to veterans of the wars in the Middle East.
This is the only Northern California stop for the wall for the rest of the year. Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951, which is hosting the memorial, is expecting visitors from all over this state this weekend.
The Moving Wall will be open for visitation 24 hours a day until the closing ceremonies on June 15.
Speakers at Friday's event included Supervisor Jim Comstock, a Navy veteran who served during Vietnam veteran. Comstock noted that there was “no better place to be than right here, right now.”
Supervisor Jim Comstock, himself a Vietnam veteran, spoke at the opening ceremony on Friday, June 12, 2009. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
Dean Gotham, president of VVA Chapter 951, the organization which is hosting the wall, thanked the community for its support and for making the wall's visit a success.
A table with a single place setting stood in front of the stage, representing prisoners of war and those missing in action. Each object represented a notion for POW and MIA soldiers: the white table-cloth represents the purity of intentions to respond to the call; the red rose represents blood and the family and friends who keep faith; the lemon represents fate; the salt the countless volunteers and families involved in the POW and MIA’s life; the Bible, strength of faith; the candle, the light of hope in loved ones' hearts and the illumination of the path home; and the overturned glass represents the fact that they can not toast with us today.
Three sculptures by local artist Rolf Kriken stand in the field before the wall. Each one has a strong tie to the meaning of The Moving Wall and all that it represents.
Chaplain Herman W. Hughes, LT, USN took the podium to share a few stories and a poem he wrote after Vietnam, entitled “The Street Without Joy.” He introduced the poem, explaining it was named for a stretch of Highway 1 from Dong Ha to Hue that came to be called “The Street Without Joy” during the French-Indochina War. Hughes was in Vietnam in 1968 and wrote the poem, which he dedicated to the people whose names appeared on the wall.
Street Without Joy
Verdant fields like manicured gardens,
Laced delicately with blue and
Starkly contrasted against barren
Dunes and rust hills, flash by
As cool monsoon rains pepper
The windows of the Huey
That carries me high above
The Street Without Joy.
Far below me unimposing.
Ancestral homes are carelessly
Sprinkled across a patchwork of
Rice paddies and stately hedgerows.
Majestic churches lift their
Spires in silent prayer as
Children tend water buffalo on
The Street Without Joy.
Peace and tranquility seem to
Pervade this pastoral scene,
The pain and ravages of war
Long past and almost forgotten.
But, alas, it’s only a sad
And transitory illusion, for
I know that Charlie still walks
The Street Without Joy.
Hughes then read the benediction.
The ceremony ended with a dedication and everyone rose to honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, as a bugler with the United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team played “Taps.”
Following the ceremony visitors began walking the length of the wall, with the Avenue of Flags – composed of 50 flags that had adorned the caskets of veterans – flying close by. Mementos – flowers, poems and pictures – had already begun to gather along the base of the wall.
E-mail Caitlin Andrus at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Dean Gotham, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 951, thanked the community for its support. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
Chaplain Herman "Woody" Hughes read a poem about his time in Vietnam. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
The United Veterans Council Military Funeral Honors Team offered a salute and rifle salvo. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
Jim Harris (center), a World War II veteran who saw action at Pearl Harbor and D-Day, attended The Moving Wall's opening ceremony on Friday, June 12, 2009. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
People walk along the wall, which is being displayed at the Lake County Fairgrounds from June 11 through June 15, 2009. Photo by Harold LaBonte.
Visitors pause to view one of local sculptor Rolf Kriken's original works, on display at The Moving Wall. Photo by Harold LaBonte.