Local veteran helps bring Vietnam memorial to Valley
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Bridgeport resident Larry Barnes, commander of American Legion Post 159 in St. Clairsville, said his service in the U.S. Army taught him about discipline, a lesson that served him well in his civilian life.
But serving in Vietnam also meant he was exposed to a number of hazards.
"I ended up getting prostate cancer from Agent Orange. I'm 100 percent disabled now. I had PTSD," he said. "I have hearing problems and neuropathy in both legs. I had to have one knee replaced from an injury I got over there. I have severe sleep apnea. They sprayed Agent Orange in areas to kill vegetation ... so we could see the Viet Cong bunkers better. They didn't tell us about the problems from Agent Orange."
Barnes, 78, entered basic training in May 1968 at Fort Gordon, Georgia, at age 19. He then entered advanced infantry training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. In October 1968, he went to Vietnam and was assigned to the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. He served in Vietnam for a year.
Barnes said his outfit was a mobile infantry unit. He would be flown to different areas by helicopter and dropped off to sweep areas for Viet Cong. They could be out in the jungle for one to four days at a time.
After his service in Vietnam, Barnes returned to Fort Riley, Kansas. He retired from the Army in May 1970.
Back home in the Ohio Valley, he began working for Plumbers & Steamfitters Local in Wheeling. During the 1980s, Barnes said he had difficulty finding employment locally, so he got a job with Shaw, Stone & Webster doing refueling work at nuclear power plants in New York and other areas.
He later became a production superintendent with Chicago Bridge & Iron, a position from which he retired in 2015.
Barnes graduated from McKinley Vocational High School in Wheeling in 1966. He and his wife, Cheryl Barnes, who is president of the Post 159 Auxiliary, have been married for 44 years. They have two children together. Barnes also has three children from his first wife.
Barnes and fellow veterans and auxiliary members with American Legion Post 159 are sponsoring the Wall That Heals visit, slated for Oct. 1-4 at the Carnes Event Center, 45300 Roscoe Road, St. Clairsville. He said it is a three-quarter-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The free traveling exhibit will be on display 24 hours a day during its four-day visit.
"There will be volunteers there to assist the public in finding a name on the wall," he said. "It's mainly for people who didn't get a chance to see the wall in DC. A lot of it is veterans who were killed in Vietnam - their friends didn't get a chance to say goodbye to them. They can go to the wall and talk to them and say their final goodbye. That's why it's the Wall That Heals."
To welcome the wall to the Ohio Valley, Barnes said it will be escorted by local law enforcement and motorcycle riders starting at 12:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's at The Highlands in Triadelphia.
Post 159 purchased flags for schoolchildren to wave along the Wall That Heals' route to the Carnes Center. It will pass by a few schools along the U.S. 40 route in Ohio and Belmont counties before arriving at the Carnes Center. The route coordinator is Rick Johnson, a Post 159 member.
Barnes said six people he either attended high school with or grew up with were killed in Vietnam. Two of those men he learned about recently.
"One of the guys I went to school with we were in basic training together and then when we flew over he ended up in Delta Company and I was in Charlie Company. Then we came back home together," he said. "We all knew in 1968 that when we got drafted you were going to Vietnam. In 1968-69, most people were in Vietnam."
Barnes said a group of Post 159 members recently visited the Wall That Heals in Wadsworth, Ohio, to see what it was like and how it is set up.
"It's amazing. It's something to see. It's a very moving experience," he said. "There are 58,000 men and women on that wall. Hopefully with it traveling around, no one’s name ever gets forgotten. They gave the last full measure - their lives for their country. Their names should not be forgotten."