At the opening ceremony for The Moving Wall on Thursday night, master of ceremonies George Duell told the crowd that this entire weekendlong event was the dream of Vietnam War veteran Steve Vlossak. Bringing The Moving Wall to Palmerton was on his bucket list.

Once the podium was his, Vlossak told the crowd bringing The Wall to his hometown was the only thing on that list. He thanked everyone who attended the ceremony, everyone who helped make bringing the wall a possibility."You have made our dream a reality," Vlossak said. "It wasn't just me. It was so many other guys. We have the greatest group of guys that you could ever see in our committee, and I wish you would give them a hand."Vlossak told the audience that many of the veterans there were with some of the men listed on the wall on their last day.He spoke about their heroism, about courageous soldiers who distracted brutal guards in a prisoner of war camp, so others would not be harmed.He spoke about those who hid their heroism in order to stay with their men, instead of receiving a third Purple Heart and a trip out of the military.And he spoke of one man from Palmerton who was one of the first to donate to bring The Moving Wall to Palmerton, but died from the effects of Agent Orange before he could see it.Vlossak told his own war story. He spoke of the dreams the men had - future jobs, future dates with girls or just eating ice cream, watching TV, or having a flush toilet. And when things got bad, they would say to one another, "Don't mean nothing; don't mean nothing.""We were trying to keep each other alive," Vlossak said.He recalled how Kresgeville native David Bartholomew saw a fellow soldier wounded and unable to get cover. He went in to try to save the man's life, but was mortally wounded himself."Two minutes before, one minute after; first or second in the line," Vlossak said are all things that made a difference as to who lived and who died. Those who lived carry with them the nightmares, flashbacks and memories of popping flares and machine-gun fire."Our experiences of the war live on within us," he said.Vlossak remembers how not long after his arrival in July 1969 to Cam Ranh Bay, a hospital on a large U.S. base was attacked, killing those in their beds and realizing that nowhere was safe.He talked about being in a group of soldiers who passed right in front of the enemy, entered a gate and four minutes later others soldiers were attacked and killed. He remembers seeing the bodies of the seven men who died."It occurs to me every day, 'If they had just fixed on us, the others may have been saved," he said. "Every morning I read their names and I pray for them."Vlossak told those gathered this is a time to reflect, respect and honor the 58,000 who died in the Vietnam War and especially the 18 with ties to Carbon County."Welcome home," he said. "Fifty years ago, we didn't hear that except from our family and friends. But our legacy fellow Vietnam vets is that the country learned from what we had to go through. And now a service man or woman is treated with the great respect and gratitude that they deserve, not only when they come home but anytime they are seen."Vlossak encouraged those with no connection to names on the wall to go the Vietnam Veterans Memorial website, look at the list of those who died and "find out how many have the same birthday as you."He also encouraged everyone to live each day to the fullest, to enjoy loved ones and to take in the beauty of nature."Each day is a gift," he said.