The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund’s official replica of the national Vietnam Memorial and mobile education center wrapped up its second exhibit in Florida on Sunday with a closing ceremony.
Kissimmee’s American Legion Post 10 was the official host for the Wall, with the generous help of the City of Kissimmee’s Parks and Recreation Department. Kissimmee Gateway Airport was the location for the event and was heavily involved with coordinating and preparing the Martin Luther King Boulevard site and day-to-day operations during the four days of the exhibit. The Kissimmee Utility Authority provided the portable generators that powered the mobile education and the lights that illuminated the Wall over each night. Many other Osceola County veterans organizations and individuals volunteered to set up staff and tear down the exhibit.
The exhibit semi-truck was escorted into Kissimmee by a veteran and law enforcement motorcycle escort, which started at the St. Cloud Home Depot. Taps was played each sunset from Wednesday through Saturday and at the closing ceremony on Sunday. A “Welcome Home” Ceremony for Vietnam veterans was held Thursday evening, and a Candlelight Ceremony for Agent Orange was conducted on Friday at sunset. Throughout the four days of the exhibit, Phillip “Little Dog” Rodgers, from south Georgia, continuously played TAPS on his harmonica throughout the day. He routinely travels to the Wall That Heals to provide the sounds of the bugle call played at military funerals.
The true purpose of the Wall That Heals was illustrated by a Sunday visit from Lisa Raspo of Winter Springs. She made a pencil rubbing imprint of her cousin’s name, Army Private First-Class Edward F. Grandpre, on the Wall. PFC Grandpre was killed in action in Vietnam in Jan. 1969.
“I saw him buried in Connecticut and have seen his name on the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., but I wanted to come here as well, “ said Raspo, clearly suppressing renewed grief at the loss.
Several groups of people also made an imprint of the name Cornelius J.B. Chambers on the Wall. Kissimmee native Army Specialist 4th Class Chambers was killed in action in Vietnam April 1967. In March 1987, the city park and its neighborhood center was renamed in his honor.
The Kissimmee display of The Wall That Heals was one of only two Florida locations in 2025. After Sunday’s finish, the display is on its way to Baton Rouge, La. For more information on the display see https://bit.ly/4i5ihZ9.
