News-Info-Alerts

Re: Wall Remembers State's POWs

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: March 16, 2002

"Wall remembers state's POWs/MIAs
By Jill Barrall - Copy Editor - Tuesday, March 12, 2002

Sarah Finn, 10, of Hutchinson, examines the names on the Traveling Wall of POW/MIAs from Vietnam. The wall exhibit, which also includes panels for Minnesota POW/MIAs from all U.S. conflicts up to the Gulf War, opened Saturday at the Hutchinson Mall. In the spirit of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., the Vietnam POW/MIA Traveling Memorial Wall creates the same sort of reaction -- reverent silence.

Surrounded by the sounds of the Hutchinson Mall on Saturday, the wall exhibit is somber and offers solitude for reflection.

The display, which opened Saturday and will remain on exhibit until next weekend, features two walls -- one dedicated to all Minnesota servicemen who were either prisoners of war or declared missing in action; the other in honor of the nation's more than 2,000 Vietnam POW/MIAs.

In addition to the literature and panels filled with names, the exhibit includes the opportunity to meet and talk with two Vietnam veterans, Leo Voss and Jack Dillon.

Building a wall
As a leader of the Southwest Minnesota POW/MIA Color Guard, Voss began to share his feelings about the men left behind at the end of the United States' wars in Vietnam and Korea.

The group began to gain exposure as one of the only POW/MIA color guards in the nation. Voss made speeches. And as he traveled and talked about prisoners of war and men missing in action, he said he felt there was a need for a memorial to those men. He also began to develop a strong committment to his fellow comrades in arms, especially those who didn't come home.

"You talk to people and they listen, but the numbers, they just go right over peoples' heads," Voss said, explaining that was how the idea of the traveling wall was born. "This way you can see it. You can read the names. When you see the names, that touches your heart."

The first wall, for the Minnesota POW/MIAs, was created in 1999. It lists all the men from conflicts through the Gulf War. The success of that venture led Voss to start the Vietnam POW/MIA Traveling Memorial Wall of the United States, in 2000. Next, Voss hopes to add a 26-panel exhibit for the Korean POW/MIAs from the nation.

Jack Dillon joined Voss and the traveling wall eight months ago. Dillon said he approached Voss, who served with the Marines in Vietnam, about the color guard, learned about the wall and signed on immediately.

"I was extremely impressed with the professionalism. ... I've been his right hand ever since," Dillon said. "We have a common bond. We feel heartbroken about the men who didn't come back. So many loved ones, friends and families are still suffering because they don't have any answers."

Dillon and Voss hope that educating the public about the POW/MIA issue will make a difference. Voss is critical of the U.S. government's complacency regarding the issue.

"We pledge billions of dollars to rebuild Germany, Japan ... and now, we're pledging billions to rebuild Afghanistan," Voss said. "Where's the money for our POWs? ... It's just not right."

"My whole philosophy of this issue is right there," Voss said pointing to the first panel, which expresses a desire for the wall to promote the return of POW/MIAs. A portion of the panel reads, "We demand their release, all information and documentation, the return of all remains and the truth."

A mending wall
While Voss and Dillon hopes POW/MIA awareness will encourage the public to pressure the government to release more information, the men also feel the traveling wall is about healing.

"I'm not doing this to open wounds or to cause pain," Voss said. "It's just the opposite."

Gesturing to the POW/MIA logo and the words "You are not forgotten," Voss said, "That's why. Right there."

Dillon, who was a airborne medic in the US Air Force in Vietnam, said he finds solace with the wall and helping with the project.

"It helps me heal," said Dillon, who teared up when he shared that he saw atrocities over there. "Leo and I consider ourselves two of the luckiest people. We came back relatively healthy and adjusted. There were some who came back and just couldn't put it back together."

Hutchinson man's name is on the wall
As Jim Riley of Hutchinson stood perfectly still as he studied the wall, almost seeming to attempt to memorize the names.

Stunned, Riley said, "What they've done here ... it's really ..."

As Riley began to talk with Leo Voss, who started the traveling wall nearly three years ago, it was evident the exhibit moves people.

"It's been an emotional morning already," Voss said Saturday afternoon. "It's like this a lot. Especially when people find out that its people from Minnesota. You'd be surprised who's in your own back yard that is missing."

Hutchinson residents should note that among the names of Minnesota POW/MIAs in Vietnam there is one of its hometown boys.

Lyle E. Mackedanz was reported missing in action on April 21, 1968. According to a July 30, 1985, Leader article with Hazel and Everett Mackedanz, Lyle's parents, their son disappeared while on a mission to recover a downed Marine helicopter. Lyle Mackedanz was a sergeant first class in the Army and was both a helicopter pilot and mechanic. Contact with Mackedanz and the crew was lost on their way back to the Marine chopper wreckage. Wreckage from Mackedanz's helicopter was found a few days later, but no bodies or graves were found.

Despite hopes that he had been sighted alive in a videotape in 1985, the Mackedanzes' son has been missing now for nearly 34 years.

His name stands now on a wall listed among those like him with families still waiting and hoping for closure.

If you go
What: The POW/MIAs Traveling Memorial Wall.

Where: At Hutchinson Mall, in the former Dana’s store location.

When: Every day during mall hours through next weekend (the exhibit will stay longer if public demand calls for an extended stay).

Who: Talk with Leo Voss or Jack Dillon at the display.

About the wall: Leo Voss started the Minnesota POW/MIAs Memorial Wall in 1999. In 2000, he introduced the Vietnam POW/MIAs Memorial Wall of the United States. Voss is currently taking donations for funding of a Korean POW/MIAs Memorial Wall.

© 2002 Hutchinson Leader