BUILDING THE MONUMENT
"This
is real special for me," Cecil Davis said with pride as he explained
the construction details of the Permian Basin Vietnam Veterans' Memorial.
The Job Superintendent for Campbell Construction Company, the general
contractors, Davis is himself a Vietnam veteran. "I feel honored to
get to build this. Everything else I've ever done has just been a job but
there's something special about this."
His feelings were glowing in his eyes and
showing in his gestures as he explained the scope of the project...much
larger on the ground than it had ever seemed in any of the renderings or
drawings. A wall which would rise more than ten feet above the ground was
just half of that on the hot afternoon in October, 90 days into the
project and with just over 30 days left to complete. In the center of the
wall is a place for a large outline of Texas with each of the Permian
Basin counties detailed. Below that is a sloping area which will have
names of those from that area who were listed as killed or missing from
Vietnam service.
Davis volunteered for the Marines, leaving
for induction in Abilene the day after he graduated from Midland High
School in June, 1969. By Christmas of that year, he was in Vietnam serving
as part of the security provided by the First Marines for the huge Air
Base there. A year later he was back in the states, discharged as a Lance
Corporal in 1971 and still not old enough to buy a beer.
"From the time I was in the 10th
grade, I knew I was going in the service. It was just something I was
supposed to do. My brother was in the Navy, several of my friends were
already in the service," Davis recalled. "I just knew this was
something I would do."
"I remember while I was in high
school we stopped eating supper to watch the news on television, seeing
the latest from Vietnam. I thought I would see my friends on the news. I
didn't think about the politics or that some thought the war was
unpopular. I guess it's true of young people. I never thought of the
danger or the politics."
When it was over, Davis came back home to
the construction industry. His MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was
as a Heavy Equipment Operator. The afternoon he was interviewed, he had
been operating a front-end loader. One of his workers joked, "We're
trying to keep him busy on the tractor to keep him out of our way."
Davis walked around the monument,
explaining the five-sided pentagon which will hold plaques of the Army,
Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard. He pointed out how hidden
spotlights would illuminate four flags (United States, Texas, and two
POW/MIA) 24 hours each day and how a strip of black blocks would match the
black granite that would outline the pentagon. Tan and red granite would
pave the walkways or provide background for the bronze plaques. One area
was reserved for memorial bricks which have helped finance the memorial
which is located at Midland International Airport just west of the Reserve
Center and less than a quarter-mile from the Confederate Air Force
headquarters.
The memorial for many provides a finality
to the last huge conflict for American military forces. "Some of the
vets have come out while we have been working on the project," Davis
said. "But we have learned that many more come out at night or on
weekends."
Davis said his Vietnam service didn't
disturb him. "I served, came home, and got on with my life." But
he got very serious when he declared, "We didn't lose in Vietnam. We
did what we were told to do and we did it well. What we really did was get
in the middle of a civil war."
Like most construction projects, it looked
like there was no way it would be completed on time. But Davis was
resolute in his declaration, "It will be ready on time!"
And, almost hesitantly, Davis confides
that he has been asked to answer for some of the fallen or missing troops
during a roll call at the memorial's dedication. "I don't know them,
but I am honored to answer for them."