Visitors to Vietnam memorial exhibit reflect and connect in Clearwater

Visitors to Vietnam memorial exhibit reflect and connect in Clearwater

By Mike Brassfield, Times Staff Writer

The black metal of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is polished to a gleaming reflective finish. When you look at the 58,260 names etched onto it, you see yourself looking back. • People who visit the memorial tend to use one word to describe it: Overpowering.

"It's unbelievable how many died. You don't really get a perspective until you see it," said Nancy Patterson of Clearwater Beach, who found the name of her younger brother, killed in an ambush near Da Nang at the age of 20.

The wall, a 3/5-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., continues to be on display today and Monday in the Carpenter Complex just north of Bright House Network Field.

A steady stream of people are making pilgrimages to it. They drive up in Harleys, minivans, Porsches and beat-up pickups. They have McCain and Obama bumper stickers.

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