BLUE RIDGE, GA – Local officials and school children came together Friday, Oct. 4, to their respects at The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall in Blue Ridge.

Fifth-grade students from Blue Ridge Elementary visited The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall on Friday, Oct.4, in Blue Ridge.

County school children in fifth through eighth grade were bused over to visit the wall, while local and state officials spoke or were present to honor the more than 58,000 names inscribed on the memorial.

Bugler Bill Hall from the North Georgia Honor Guard plays Friday morning at The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall.

The display is three-fifths of the size of the federal memorial in Washington, D.C., and is on display on Orvin Lance Drive in Blue Ridge until the conclusion of the closing ceremony.

Friday’s event was highlighted by comments from Georgia State Speaker of the House David Ralston.

Ralston spoke about how difficult it was to make the event happened and reminded the crowd why the event was so important.

“This did not happen overnight. It the work of dozens over hours to make this happen,” Ralston said. “We must not forget the lessons we must draw from the wall. The Vietnam War took a horrific toll on our country. It’s a chapter of our history that we might prefer to forget, but this lesson is still true: those who fail to learn from history are damned to repeat it.”

Georgia State Speaker of the House David Ralston spoke Friday, Oct. 4, at The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall in Blue Ridge.

Ralston went on to say that those soldiers who did return were not treated as heroes.

“We must remember respect for the soldier. Most of those that returned did not receive a hero’s welcome. We failed those who served. We confused our patriotism with politics,” he said. “So as we look at this wall, let us be reminded: it’s because free men and women who will answer the call that we are here.

“This wall can’t bring back the fallen, but it can make sure we live up to the ideals for which they fought and died,” he said.

The Appalachian Saint Andrew’s Pipes & Drums played during the ceremony Friday.

Also in attendance were Georgia State Senator for the 51st District Steve Gooch, Fannin County Commission Chairman Stan Helton, Blue Ridge Mayor Donna Whitener, and dozens of local veterans of the nation’ various military branches.

The wall will remain on display in Blue Ridge until after the closing ceremony, which is set to begin at 10 a.m., Monday, Oct. 7.