There just wasn't enough time to cover all the amazing things that Norm Murray has seen and done in one sitting. I had the pleasure of interviewing the Williamsville grad and Vietnam Veteran (aka Nickel City Cowboy) about a special project at The Vietnam Wall.

There is a plan to build an Education Center at The Vietnam Wall. The 2 story facility will be built below ground so as to not destroy or limit the view of other monuments/landscapes in the area. At a projected cost of $140,000,000, there is a need for donations from the public to make the necessary funds.

Norm Murray ia a Vietnam Veteran, former business owner and musician who used his talents to entertain/pass the time during his time off in the war. "I would play all sorts of songs during the war," Murray told me. "I got in to country music after hearing some songs on Armed Forces Radio," he went on to explain.

These days, Murray plays a few shows at Sportsmen's Tavern and uses his talents to volunteer and raise awareness for The Red Cross and Veterans causes like The Wall.

The men and women of the Vietnam era/generation are the baby-boom kids and are now becoming the seniors in our community and stories and history about their service and the reasons The USA entered the war need to be shared and used to teach future generations.

 

There are 58,318 names on the Vietnam Wall. As the Statler Brothers put it in their song "More Than a Name on a Wall," there is so much more to each one of the brave service members than just an engraving on a slab. Who were they? What were their talents? What sort of life did they live before the war and what about the family and friends they left behind?

My conversation with Norm Murray shed some light on how we can help make the Education Center a reality. It also was loaded with information on how to get biographies, pictures and stories in the hands of the proper people to attach to the individuals on The Wall.

Please consider donating or sharing the information about the proposed facility. For more information, click the button below or contact Norm Murray via email.  (VNVet@nicklecitycowboy.com)

Donate to build the Education Center at The Wall
Make checks payable to “Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund”
Put “Education Center” the memo line and send to

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund

1235 South Clark St, Suite 910

ATTN: VVA77

Arlington, VA 22202

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