WAUKESHA, Wis. — Russ Owens served in the United States Navy for six years during the Vietnam War. 

“I was on a guided missile destroyer. Two tours to the Tonkin Gulf,” Owens said. "One was 1964, and the second one was November '65, through March of ’66.”

What You Need To Know

  • The Moving Vietnam Wall is in Waukesha for Memorial Day 2021
  • It’s a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. 
  • There are 58,281 names on the memorial, with more added every year
  • 1163 of those names are Wisconsinites

He has seen the Moving Vietnam Wall and the permanent fixture in Washington D.C. several times. 

One of his shipmates’ names is engraved on the memorial. 

“That’s a very long story,” Owens said. 

He was three weeks away from being discharged, still stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin. It was around 1:00 a.m. on March 13, 1966. 

He was on watch in the radar area of his ship. 

“Somebody called in over the radio from another part of the ship that they heard screams, and there was a man who was scolded by steam and died,” Owens said. 

That man was Peter Holcomb. 

About 20 years ago, it was discovered Holcomb’s name wasn’t on the Vietnam Wall. 

“You have to prove that the ship was in the combat zone, and that the death occurred in the combat zone even though it was not a combat death, which is why it wasn’t on the wall in the first place,” Owens explained. 

It took 10 years, but Holcomb’s name is now forever memorialized on the wall in Washington, and its traveling counterpart. 

Owens already has the imprint of the engravings of both names he personally knows. 

He forgot where exactly on the wall the name of the second man Wass, but while he was walking through the memorial with Spectrum News 1, he found it. 

“There it is! I’m at the right panel,” he exclaimed when he found the name. "Ted S. Ferguson. I never knew him but I knew his older sister 25 years ago.”

Owens is grateful the moving wall made another stop in Wisconsin for Memorial Day in 2021. It was in Greenfield for Memorial Day 2019. 

“I’m not one to break down and cry but it does make your throat choke up a little bit,” Owens said. 

He’s hopeful many people get a chance this Memorial Day to see the wall, to honor the lives of those who gave everything to serve our country. 

“It’s important to remember the sacrifice that was made. Whether it was willing or unwilling.  They made the sacrifice,” Owens said. "They went where they were sent. This is just a permanent, long term memory of the people who went and did not come back alive.”

The Moving Vietnam Wall can be seen all day and night in Frame Park until 6:00 a.m. Tuesday.