I was excited to have my mom along for the trip. Neither of us are very good at navigating new places, so I suspected that three days in a town we’d never visited would turn into a story of its own.
We stayed at the Riverview Inn on the edge of downtown Clarksville. Many veterans stayed there as well, and each time I walked through the lobby, I enjoyed hearing the talk of days long past between war buddies.
On our first night, we attended the Remembrance Ceremony at First Baptist Church downtown. Hearing the lovely voices of a large high school choir singing “America the Beautiful” and my Mamaw’s favorite, “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” whooshed me back to my years of high school chorus, and the remainder of the evening followed nostalgic suit.
We heard from Cindy Stonebraker, a Hopkinsville, Kentucky, native whose father has been missing in action since 1968. She talked about the many people she’s met along the way, including the air traffic controller who gave her father’s plane permission to take off, and a stranger wearing a POW bracelet with his name on it. More potently, she played a recording for us of her father talking to her on her sixth birthday just before he went missing. I don’t believe there was a dry eye in the room.
The next day was a busy one. We attended a luncheon where we sat next to Vietnam-era veteran Joe Britton. He served as a dentist and helped physicians care for wounded soldiers on bases from Texas to West Germany. Britton retired as an army officer after 20 years and now runs a private practice. It was his first time at the event, and said he was honored to be part of something that symbolized the sacrifices made by Americans during a war that was so unpopular.
The guest speaker was Bill Robinson, the longest-held prisoner of war in American history. Robinson and his U.S. Air Force crew were shot down in a helicopter while on a rescue mission and captured. He was held in North Vietnam for seven years, enduring torture and the loss of his friends, before his release at the end of the war.
“I can truly say I’m the luckiest man alive,” he said. “One of the continuing thoughts I had while in captivity was how fortunate I am to be an American. Our basic ideas and principles are honorable.”
Robinson said the welcome home he received belonged to all Vietnam veterans.
“They were asked to remove their uniforms when they came home so as not to offend anyone,” he said. “I was still spat upon like the rest, but I represented the end of something they’d been seeking.”
Robinson continued his service in the military for 12 years after his release, retiring as a captain in 1984.
“I want to give back and show appreciation for those willing to put everything on the line for me. I don’t want their sacrifice to go unnoticed,” he said, explaining why he took part in this year’s celebration.
We toured the USS Landing Ship Tank 325, the last fully operational landing ship from World War II. We also visited Beachaven Vineyards & Winery, which hosted an 80-percent scale model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall and a wreath-laying ceremony. I watched brave souls jump from an airplane and deploy giant flags to kick-start the event. I heard the always-poignant “Taps” and watched men and women, young and old, stand proudly at attention as the colors were presented, as the national anthem was sung and as they placed a wreath near the soldier’s cross at the foot of the Vietnam Wall. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
It was there I met Ernesto Rodriguez, a 15-year army vet who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“Vietnam vets didn’t get a lot of fanfare. I feel we turned our backs on them,” he said. “This was nice to see the community come together (for the celebration). They deserved this. They also paved the way for future vets to get the care they needed.”
Rodriguez, a Clarksville resident, recently finished walking cross-country to bring awareness to veteran suicide, marching from his hometown to Santa Monica, California.
“I have a lot of friends that I’ve lost to suicide and in battle. As this (event) progresses, I hope people realize that they’re not forgotten,” he said.
That evening, we attended a Bob Hope tribute show, staged to replicate one of the variety shows he put on for Vietnam soldiers. There was an impersonator who looked and sounded just like the late comedian (or so my mom says) along with performers imitating the era’s stars like Anita Bryant and, much to my mom’s delight, comedian Phyllis Diller. There was also a glamorous blonde named Michelle Dellafave who captivated the room. As it turns out, she performed with Bob Hope during his tours to Vietnam. What neat stories she told!
Frances Manzitto, director of tourism sales with Visit Clarksville, acts as a receptive operator and helps incoming tour operators get their groups booked in hotels, arranges seating at the events and provides itineraries and guides for their stay.
“We take care of all their needs when (groups) come,” she said. “If people work with the senior market, they work with veterans and their spouses. We’re willing to put some effort into helping a tour operator get some leeway with veterans groups, which can lead to future business for them if these people have never traveled by motorcoach.”
Frances said she’s pleased with how smoothly the events went this year—not to mention the beautiful weather—and she said next year’s celebration, scheduled for Sept. 12–16, will be similar.
We attended a downtown parade on Saturday morning before heading home. It was heartwarming to watch the people I’d met over those short couple of days riding along or marching and being applauded for their service. We had to make a stop at some of the unique shops and the booming downtown market for some Amish-made bread and handcrafted goods.
So how did my mom and I handle ourselves in a new place? We locked ourselves out of our hotel room once, I thought I got stuck in the hotel elevator and my phone’s GPS took us down a backroad—one you see in movies that leads to certain death. We made it home, though, with a bottle of wine from Beachaven and, more important, a deeper appreciation for America’s heroes who fought for our freedoms.
To learn more about Clarksville, contact Frances Manzitto of Visit Clarksville or go to clarksvillecvb.com.
Top photo: Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
Photos by Kendall Fletcher
