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The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall
A Moving Experience
By Harold Graham
 Nancy and myself were among the thousands of visitors to the replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall during its brief exhibit in Meridian this summer.
It was a moving experience, in more ways than one. The Memorial Wall is a bold statement in itself of the tens of thousands of soldiers that died in that campaign, but the devotion of the dozens of volunteers, most of them Vietnam veterans, who skillfully guided visitors through the exhibit, brought special significance to the event.
While the Vietnam Conflict began for doubtful reasons, was fought under great protest on the home front, and ended in a stalemate, none of these factors diminishes the valor with which these soldiers fought nor lessens the redness of blood that they shed.
It is with great humility, therefore, that we take this opportunity to honor the memory of those who died in Vietnam and to particularly pay homage to the five soldiers who died from Newton County:
Vietnam Conflict Casualties
Newton County, Mississippi
Corp. Clinton Chapman, U. S. Marine Corps, Newton
Major Thomas Moody Felton, U. S. Army, Newton
Sec. Lt. Charles Jerry Gaines, U. S. Marine Corps, Newton
Private First Class Bennie Joe Graham, U. S. Army, Decatur
Warrant Officer Willis Wilson Smith, Jr., U. S. Army, Decatur
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