EDINBURG — Under looming gray skies, a bagpiper and a drummer led a candlelit procession of almost 100 past “The Wall That Heals” Saturday evening in Edinburg. It was a solemn remembrance for veterans — particularly Rio Grande Valley veterans — who died in the Vietnam War. The wall, a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., records Valley casualties among its 58,281 names.
Conspicuous in the crowd were veterans and family members of Vietnam War dead, some visibly emotional. They bore pictures of their relatives, or pulled out paper and pencil to take an etching from the wall. Among them was U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa, whose brother, Jose, died in the war.
Legislation passed in 1972 prevented siblings of soldiers killed in the war from being drafted, Hinojosa said. Because of that legislation, he credits his brother’s sacrifice with preventing him from being drafted.
Saturday’s vigil closed with a rendition of taps.
A veteran salutes during the playing of taps by U.S. Army Private Second Class Eliseo Trejo at the closing of a candlelight vigil ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica at the Ebony Hills Golf course Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])A family member rubs the name of a loved one killed in the war during a candlelight vigil at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica at the Ebony Hills Golf course Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Valentin Rios Jr. walks past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica during a candlelight vigil Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Dolia Gonzalez, the 94-year-old mother of Edinburg’s most famous son Freddy Gonzalez, is wheeled past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica during a candlelight vigil Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Flags are reflected off the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica during a candlelight vigil Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])People walk past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica while carrying candles during a procession Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])A woman’s patriotic smock flutters in the wind as she carries a candle past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])A family gathers for a candlelight vigil at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])“The Wall That Heals” is a traveling three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., which tours the country with a stop in Edinburg from April 20-23 at the Ebony Hills Golf Club. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])A framed photograph held by a family member of Monte Alto native Rodolfo Valdez, a Vietnam veteran, is placed near his name at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica during a candlelight vigil Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Janie Corona Alaniz carries a candle past the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica during a candlelight vigil Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Young boys reach out to touch the names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica during a candlelight vigil Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])People look for the names of loved ones etched in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica before the start of a candlelight vigil Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Aaron Magana and Josh Perez, a bagpiper and a drummer, lead the procession alongside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])The reflection of a pink shirt is seen on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])Gray skies loomed over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica Saturday, April 22, 2023, in Edinburg. (Delcia Lopez | [email protected])
