In May 2021, Jim Eddleman delivered on a promise that was 50 years in the making. In 1968, as a 19-year-old farm boy, he served in the U.S. military and was involved in the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War.
“I helped carry several wounded comrades to evacuation helicopters,” he recalls. “When I had time to reflect, I made a promise to myself if I made it back to the United States alive, I had to do something to show my respect and honor for my comrades.”
The southeast Missouri farmer and his wife, Charlene, donated their 46-acre corn field to build a full-scale model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington, D.C. The land located in Perryville, Mo., had been in Eddleman’s family for three generations. In addition to the exact replica of the wall, the large complex includes a welcome center, military museum and military monument.
Every detail of the original wall was painstakingly reproduced, including the east-west orientation and the 58,291 engraved names. The black granite on the Missouri memorial is from the same quarry in India as the original.
“I have two classmates’ names on there,” he says. “It’s such a quiet and peaceful place.”
Listen to Eddleman discuss the memorial with Andrew McCrea on the “Farming the Countryside” podcast:
