MORAVIA - As a Vietnam War veteran, Moravia resident Al Kemp has been to the memorial several times in Washington, D.C., to see the 58,132 names of Americans killed.
So getting a chance to view a play about the wall and the war in his hometown was not something to pass up
In honor of Memorial Day and the true meaning behind it, Loose Ends Ltd. Little Theatre Company opened its weekend-long run of "The Wall: A Pilgrimage," Friday at the VFW in Moravia.
"I go to the wall every chance I get," Kemp said. "I see families at the wall while I am there. They are silent and touching the wall, this performance shows what those families are really thinking. It was a very good, very excellent portrayal. I have many friends who are on that wall."
Written by Jan Stuckey, the performance features the story of a family making the long journey to the wall 20-years after losing their son in the Vietnam War. The play portrays the effects the war had on the family.
It was the story of a mother who lost her son, a father who has kept his grief inside for so many years, and a brother who used intellect to overcome his grief. It is also the story of a wife who lost her high school sweetheart and a daughter who never got a chance to meet her father.
Kemp is a Vietnam veteran who served as a Marine on Hill 34 in Danang, outside the airbase. He served his tour of duty in 1969 and 191970, and with explosives.
"I was drafted right after high school," Kemp said. "Other people were going to Washington or onto other senior trips. Vietnam was my senior trip. My job was to do the mine sweeps every morning."
The show's director, Mark Bruzee, a Vietnam Era Veteran himself, has many reservations about doing the show.
"Most of the plays that I have seen about this subject are either too violent, or too emotional" Bruzee said.
"Not that the war was not, but they do not portray the war the way it truly was. This play is not about the war. It is about the loved ones who were left behind. The ones that are so often forgotten when we talk about Vietnam."
In honor of Memorial Day and the true meaning behind it, Loose Ends Ltd. Little Theatre Company opened its weekend-long run of "The Wall: A Pilgrimage," Friday at the VFW in Moravia.
"I go to the wall every chance I get," Kemp said. "I see families at the wall while I am there. They are silent and touching the wall, this performance shows what those families are really thinking. It was a very good, very excellent portrayal. I have many friends who are on that wall."
Written by Jan Stuckey, the performance features the story of a family making the long journey to the wall 20-years after losing their son in the Vietnam War. The play portrays the effects the war had on the family.
It was the story of a mother who lost her son, a father who has kept his grief inside for so many years, and a brother who used intellect to overcome his grief. It is also the story of a wife who lost her high school sweetheart and a daughter who never got a chance to meet her father.
Kemp is a Vietnam veteran who served as a Marine on Hill 34 in Danang, outside the airbase. He served his tour of duty in 1969 and 191970, and with explosives.
"I was drafted right after high school," Kemp said. "Other people were going to Washington or onto other senior trips. Vietnam was my senior trip. My job was to do the mine sweeps every morning."
The show's director, Mark Bruzee, a Vietnam Era Veteran himself, has many reservations about doing the show.
"Most of the plays that I have seen about this subject are either too violent, or too emotional" Bruzee said.
"Not that the war was not, but they do not portray the war the way it truly was. This play is not about the war. It is about the loved ones who were left behind. The ones that are so often forgotten when we talk about Vietnam."
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