A Marion filmmaker is bringing a labor of love to the big screen. Terry Cline and his team of veteran videographers created a new film highlighting “The Wall That Heals,” the traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to Delaware in 2024.
“We need to honor all veterans. We should never forget the veterans,” Cline said. “When many Vietnam veterans came home, they were told to change into their civvies so they weren’t spit upon and called ‘babykillers.’”
Documentary Debuts Nov. 12
Veterans and volunteers who built the wall are invited to a showing of “Honoring our Veterans: The Wall that Heals” at the Strand Theatre in Delaware on Nov. 12. It will then be free to watch in YouTube. It will also be entered in the Worldfest-Houston independent film festival.
A Personal Mission
One of the catalysts who helped bring the wall to central Ohio and making the documentary was Brian Galligher. He is a veteran who is still serving in the Navy Reserves. He is also the director of the Delaware County Veterans Services Office. Galligher’s reason for these projects was personal.
“My father was a Vietnam Vet and served during the Tet Offensive. My father carried those scars for as long as I remember and passed away in 2020 as a result of Agent Orange,” Galligher said. “If I could help just one other Vietnam Vet feel better and appreciated, I think my father would have much approved.”
Galligher said the Vietnam veterans made an impact felt for every generation of service members that followed.
“Those veterans paved the way for the current positive attitude towards military service and being a veteran. I can remember stories from my father about signs that said, ‘Soldiers, sailors, and dogs stay off the grass,’ as well as many other more ‘colorful’ memories he shared,” Galligher said. “I think what upset him the most was feeling betrayed by many veterans during that era that voiced concerns over the treatment of those returning home from combat. In fact, the Vietnam Veterans of America’s slogan is: ‘Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.’”
Labor of Love
Volunteers erected the traveling memorial.
“We know not everyone can come to Washington, D.C. to see the Vietnam Wall,” said Elaine Koontz, memorial site manager.
“An ‘in memory’ plaque represents and memorializes Vietnam veterans who have died since the war,” said Nancy Crissinger, an event volunteer, who highlighted the physical and mental injuries that took the lives of veterans after they returned home.
One night, taps played while the memorial was bathed in orange lights as a tribute to those who died from Agent Orange.
“For me, to be able to see the veterans see that wall, maybe touch the name of someone that they served with, of somebody that they loved, that they lost in the battle, can bring a little comfort and a little healing,” said retired Maj. Gen. Deborah Ashenhurst, the keynote speaker at the opening of the Wall that Heals in 2024. “Each name is a person.”
Filmmakers with Military Experience
Galligher; Larry Crile, a Green Beret; Frank Hickman, a veteran; and Dave Hyatt, an Air Force veteran, collaborated to bring the memorial to Delaware and to create the documentary.
Cline was the only non-veteran on the film crew. It included Alan Brown, a 24-year Air Force veteran; Gary Butterworth, a retired Navy commander and former executive officer and commanding officer of the fleet imaging command in the Atlantic; José Cardenas, a retired major with the Air National Guard; Kevin Evanoski, a veteran with the Coast Guard; Wayne Sells, a service member with the U.S. Air Force; and Bill Pivetta, a U.S. Air Force photographer with the Ohio Air National Guard.
Butterworth was at the opening of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He appreciated the chance to document the traveling memorial to honor more than 58,000 service members who never returned.
MarionMade! is a program of Marion Technical College.
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