By Bixyl Shuftan
I recently came across a virtual replica of the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Heavens Sunset, and had a chance to talk to a few of the people it. To begin with, years ago there was another in Second Life,
built in 2007 by a team led by Evian Argus. But four years later,
it was suddenly gone.
The spot I arrived on was a parking lot, with a couple asphalt paths leading to The Wall. In front of it was the American flag and the six Armed Forces flags. There was a statue of two servicemen, a plaque in bronze dedicated to all Vietnam Veterans, a POW memorial, a memorial for American Indian veterans.
In the grass in front of the memorial were fields of flowers, poppies. There's also a chopper, a riverboat, and several aircraft on display. On the other side of the parking lot was a small church, with a blue star flag and a gold star flag on the wall. The wall itself was detailed, having the 58,000 names of those US soldiers whom died in Vietnam, in chronological order of their end. I found a couple flowers and a photo which had been placed in front of the names.
After finding out about this memorial, I got in touch with Suta Northman, one of the people behind it, and arranged for a meeting. I would meet up with him and two others in the sim group, Tom Breed and Jamal Nerido. Most of the interview was done in voice, Suta doing the majority of the talking, so I took down notes on real-life pen and paper.
They explained things got started about 12 years ago, the group being all veterans, and had a club on the surface. SmQQkee McCallen, or "Smokey," had been the oldest member, Suta explained, "Jamal and I the oldest now." After some time, the area grew to four sims in size, with a combat area. But after a while, the other three and the combat were closed down. Cycloppers77 Cyberstar was in charge for a time. But he passed away and in November 2019 Suta would take over the leadership of the sim group. There was also the objective of honoring not just Vietnam Veterans, but Desert Storm and the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns as well.
When they heard about Evian's memorial wall suddenly closing, they talked about bringing it back. Once it was built, there was a "promise to keep it going." The black granite wall with the names of the 58,000 dead took about four months for a builder friend to make. It's unknown how long the individual sections took apiece as they were all delivered at once. They never did find out why Evian's memorial suddenly shut down, "One day I went to look for it, and it was gone."
"Outside of DC, this is the only place to see The Wall," they explained. The possible exception is the mobile wall that goes across the country in real life, though the veterans explained it seldom is taken to anyplace but a sizeable city, and of course it's seen only on special occasions.
There had been a road around the memorial level, but it was later taken down, and the fields of poppies put in their place.
At one point, I was passed a notecard, saying that The Wall was more than a memorial, but also an example of the good Second Life can do, that people who couldn't go to the real one in Washington DC could go to this one.
Once I finished the wall a member of SL came to us and wanted to know if she could look for her uncle who was killed back in Viet Nam. we found him after looking. then she asked can she bring her Dad and her Grandmother and of course i said absolutely. come to find out that her grandmother was not in good health and could never go to the the real memorial in DC so she and her dad brought her grand mother here in sl to view her sons name on the wall. this was the best and made it worth my time in making this wall, if nothing else, to bring her grandmother to the wall to see her sons name.Suta called his group the smallest of the veterans groups, saying they were very select and those claiming to be veterans had to show proof of their time of service, "Too many posers. ... If you see someone with this tag," he gestured towards his "Viet Nam Vets" tag, "He is a Vietnam Veteran."
Tom Breed was part of the squadron that was the last to get the National Defense Ribbon.
Suta described himself as an "Air Force brat" when growing up, the family moving to a new base, then after a few years moving once again. His father served in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, "I used to watch NBC News with Walter Cronkite ... maybe see my Dad. Also looking for my uncles." He himself enlisted in 1975, at the very tail end, "I got the same treatment as the others." Tom explained back then, veterans were treated very differently from today, saying soldiers coming back from Vietnam did so on civilian flights, and instead of welcomed had trash thrown at them and were spat upon, "Thankfully the attitude has changed."
Suta went on, "If I see a Vietnam vet on the street, I'll go up to him, 'Welcome home brother.' He'll smile, and take my hand and shake it." Jamal told a story about how he saw a Vietnam vet in a restaurant, thanked him. Later Jamal found when he went to pay for his own meal, it already was. "We are a brotherhood," Tom added, "We had the sh*t end of the stick for years."
Of future plans, Suta explained one of the group is a chaplain, and they will have a rededication ceremony once she is available, "She's a doctor and is busy." They will also have ceremonies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. They also plan to add two smaller memorials the original SL Wall had, The Three Soldiers statue and the Vietnam Women's Memorial, "That's vital to me. ... nurses who serves, taking care of my brothers. I do want to get somehow a statue for them, the Vietnam era nurses that served, taking care of my brothers."
There are other levels in the sim. At the bottom level is the clubhouse for Legacy Vets. Membership isn't limited to US veterans, and the club has numerous patches on the wall of the various divisions they were in, a few from Canada, Mexico, and other places, "We had a ROC (South Korea) veteran, but not sure where his patch is." There are occasional dances with DJs playing music. There's also motorcycle tracks for any MC group members whom want to ride it. Suta says they've been respectful and enjoy riding in the sim, "they really enjoy it." There are three tracks, including a dirt bike track. One of the sim levels is urban, another is a park, "Gazebo with a coco stand, a nice place to come to. ... The only thing that limits us, this is a homestead." So the sim doesn't have the capacity of a full-sized one. ... We have a good time here."
Suta stated it was Tom's idea to get the Bellissera Passport system here with a stamp giver near The Wall, which "got us on the map. ... The sim is open to anyone who wants to come, to reflect, to ride on horseback ... all we ask is for people to be respectful. If you do rezz anything, please pick it back up."
"All these people gave their lives when their country asked. We all fought together as brothers and sisters. Those who complain should keep in mind these people died so they'd have the right to complain. ... Freedom isn't free. ... We are members of one of the largest fraternities in the world. And people don't realize that. At college, I was asked to join a frat, and I told them I was already part of one." He described a quote he heard somewhere that was fitting, "A Veteran is someone that at some point in their life wrote a check made payable to the American people In the amount of 'up to and including my life'."
Suta went on to say while they usually get along well with others, there are occasional issues, "We don't put up with posers, or BS." He described one instance they were with others from another veteran group, and one young man was more than a little mouthy. Suta didn't hesitate to tell him off, "We respect the other groups, but we stand on our own."
"When one dies, we lose a family member." They talked about as time has gone on, Vietnam veterans have become fewer and farther between in number, mentioning how today living veterans of the Second World War are rare, and there aren't many from the Korean War either, "Getting to be that way for Vietnam vets." He himself had taken charge of the group in 2020 only after Cycloppers died that year, calling him like a brother, "If you don't mind my saying so, he was one onery f*cker." They'd playfully insult one another, "but we'd look out after each other."
Suta explained he and several others in the group have also shared email addresses and phone numbers, "We check up on each other, we call each other, make sure we're okay." Despite not having personally met one another, he stated there was a bond of brotherhood between then, "One day we'll meet, maybe not in this lifetime. ... One day, I'll be called by High Command, and then I'll meet my brothers."
Tom and Jamal had to go after a little more than an hour. Suta and I talked for a while, at one point looking over the club. Eventually we both had to go our separate ways. He reminded me like everyone else I was free to drop in at any time at any level of the sim. And of course The Wall, "come to reflect what we stand for."
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Heavens%20Sunset/65/106/953Bixyl Shuftan
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