Resting his knees onto the parking lot pavement before the half-scale traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, U.S. Army Veteran Calvin Gilbertson pulls out his camera phone and captures a photo of the names of the men he served with in Vietnam who didn’t make it home.
After the crowds had dissipated at the conclusion of the Branson Veterans Homecoming Week Opening Celebration on Thursday, Nov. 5, Gilbertson and his wife Bonnie made their way down to “The Wall,” which is currently on display at the Branson Police Department, to pay their respects. Gilbertson served in the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1966 and was with Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Calvary in Vietnam. As he snapped a handful of photos, he shared that he recognized the names of around dozen of the men who were killed in November 1965.
“I knew every one of them. They were buddies,” Gilbertson said. “We went into service together. Well, some of those guys are from Missouri and we went in together, we went through basic training together. We went through advanced infantry training together, and we went to Vietnam together. So, we knew each other for two years. You might say, for all of the time that we were in, and so we were just friends.”
Gilbertson said he’s had the opportunity to see the official Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. three times as a part of the Honor Flight program but said it’s still great to come here to Branson to see the wall and visit the names of his friends.
“I tell my military friends and other friends, too, back home that everybody needs to get injected with some patriotism,” Gilbertson said. “And it gives me a little extra surge every time I come here this time of the year, to see what the city does for veterans, both that live here and visit.”
After receiving his training in Fort Leonard Wood, Gilbertson said his tour to Vietnam began in July 1965 when they shipped out from Charleston, SC and landed in Vietnam about 30 days later. Pointing out a specific name on the wall, he shared the connection he had to Vincent Locatelli, who was killed on Nov. 17, 1965.
“Vincent Locatelli. He was a rifleman in the infantry platoon,” Gilbertson said. “I was the RTO in the platoon. The RTOs the radio operator and the platoon sergeant was who I carried the radio for. And he was my backup in case, for some reason, I couldn’t carry the radio. So, we were in a formation from one LZ, one landing zone to another landing zone, and we were on foot. And he was behind me in the column, back aways, and we got ambushed by, I don’t know, I guess it was a North Vietnamese group, and a mortar round wounded me and killed him. It was pretty close to a direct hit I think.”
Due to the extent of his injuries, Gilbertson said he was sent home after a few weeks in a field hospital. Back in the states he was sent to the Great Lakes Navel Hospital near Chicago, to finish the rest of his service. He added they would have all been on their way home on Dec. 10, 1965; less than a month after he was wounded and his buddies were killed.
“A lot of them I do,” Gilbertson said when asked if he remembers the faces of his friends listed on the wall. “Names are better than the faces right now, because, you know, I haven’t I haven’t seen him since 1965.”
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on display in Branson is an official half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and is approximately 240 feet in length. “The Wall” formally called the Welk Resorts in Branson home for many years but was donated to the city of Branson Police Department in 2024 when new owners purchased the resort.
“The Wall” made its Branson Police Department display debut this year, located at 1 Justice Street in Branson. The display is open to the public 24 hours a day for Branson Veterans Homecoming Week. Plans are underway for “The Wall” to have a permeant year-round home at the Branson Police Department.
(Photo by Tim Church)
(Photo by Tim Church)
