Paying tribute: Hendersonville hosts Traveling Vietnam Wall, holds ceremony at Post 77

Dean Hensley, Hendersonville Times-News
·4 min read

HENDERSONVILLE - As Ronald Cox was staring at the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall at the Veterans Healing Farm on Veterans Day, his eyes swelled up with tears.

"There are a lot of brothers here," said Cox, of Hendersonville, who served in the Vietnam War from 1969-70 in the U.S. Army and was a member of the Black Horse Regiment.

Cox said he had never been to Washington, D.C. to see the real Vietnam Memorial Wall and said he doesn't plan to.

"It's the first time I've seen anything like this. It was a hard time," he said, with tears flowing down his cheeks. "For me, I thought it was a chance to see the names. But to be honest, everything that happened in Vietnam, I'd rather just leave it over there."

Hendersonville's Ronald Cox, who served in the Vietnam War from 1969-70, pauses to reflect on Veterans Day at the Traveling Vietnam Wall at the Veterans Healing Farm in Hendersonville.
Hendersonville's Ronald Cox, who served in the Vietnam War from 1969-70, pauses to reflect on Veterans Day at the Traveling Vietnam Wall at the Veterans Healing Farm in Hendersonville.

On a light rain on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, there were several visitors to the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall, which will be at the Healing Farm on Yale Road in Hendersonville through Nov. 12. It was one of several events happening in the area to honor veterans.

At Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hendersonville, the annual Veterans Day Ceremony was set to be held at 11 a.m., but the ceremony ended up being moved to American Legion Post 77 in downtown Hendersonville due to a light steady rainfall all morning.

"What a beautiful day we have today," master of ceremonies Shuford Edmiston said. "And that's because we need this rain. We need this rain to help all those firefighters who are fighting fires all over North Carolina. When you see a firefighter, thank him or her for their service, because without them, that fire could be right next door."

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Congressman Chuck Edwards was the guest speaker for Hendersonville's Veterans Day Ceremony, which was moved from Forest Lawn Memorial Park to American Legion Post 77 in downtown Hendersonville.
Congressman Chuck Edwards was the guest speaker for Hendersonville's Veterans Day Ceremony, which was moved from Forest Lawn Memorial Park to American Legion Post 77 in downtown Hendersonville.

Rep. Chuck Edwards was the guest speaker for the ceremony. He was greeted with handshakes and smiles as he entered Post 77.

"My stepfather served in World War II, and he told a story about his platoon being cut from all the others in France. They had absolutely nothing to eat and were nearly starving to death. They ended up intercepting a food truck, and the only things on that food truck were ketchup and pears. He told me how his platoon lived on ketchup and pears for two weeks.

"My grandma had a box of pictures at her house that us kids were never allowed to see, because my other grandfather served in World War II on a ship in the Philippines. After my grandma was gone and after my mom was gone, I found in one of their houses that box of photos. They were absolutely horrific. It depicted scenes that quite frankly humans should not have to see. My grandpa served on one of those ships whose responsibility was to go around to the various islands and bury bodies. To see bulldozers rolling up mounds and mounds of bodies, many of them were burned and charred beyond recognition, really touched me and reminds me of the types of sacrifice that many of you and folks like you have had to make," he said.

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Before the ceremony, the Rotary Club of Hendersonville lined Main Street with 300 American flags, officially launching the Club's American Flag Project. Members and other community leaders started placing the flags at 6 a.m. Veterans Day. They plan to remove them at 6 p.m.

On Veterans Day, the Hendersonville Rotary Club placed 300 American flags in the planters located on Main Street.
On Veterans Day, the Hendersonville Rotary Club placed 300 American flags in the planters located on Main Street.

More: How to see the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall as it makes a stop in Hendersonville

The flags were in raised planter boxes between First Avenue and Fifth Avenue along Main Street. This is the first of seven occasions the flags will be placed. The other event are Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Flag Day, Election Day and Patriot’s Day (Sept. 11).

On Veterans Day, the Hendersonville Rotary Club placed 300 American flags in the planters located on Main Street.
On Veterans Day, the Hendersonville Rotary Club placed 300 American flags in the planters located on Main Street.

In nearby Columbus, the Polk County Veterans Association (American Legion Post 250 and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9116) hosted the annual Veterans Day Parade in downtown Columbus. A Veterans Day ceremony was held following the parade.

In Transylvania County, the annual Transylvania County Veterans Day Ceremony was held at the county courthouse gazebo on Main Street in Brevard.

Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.

This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Veterans in Henderson, Polk, Transylvania counties honored