He came to the wall looking for the men he left behind
Before the final black panels of The Wall That Heals were locked into place on Wednesday morning at Lee Lake, Larry Lemons was already searching for his friends.
The Vietnam veteran stood beneath the information tent, flipping slowly through a thick binder containing over 58,000 names etched into the traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Nearby, volunteers assembled the wall piece by piece while Lemons searched for men he had not seen in more than 50 years.
Some, he feared, never made it home.
Larry Lemons kneels beside The Wall That Heals on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Bartlesville while searching for the names of friends he served with during the Vietnam War.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Lemons served with the 88th Transportation Company under the 1st Logistical Command during the Vietnam War. Laughing softly, he recalled the less-than-flattering nickname soldiers gave the command's insignia — a joke better suited for another time.
Now, Lemons wasn't drafted; he signed up because, in his words, he didn't have anything better to do.
"We weren't doing much at the time," Lemons said. "We were drinking beer and chasing women."
So in 1969, he and several friends volunteered for the Army. Because of his experience working on cars, Lemons was assigned the role of a line mechanic.
Standing beside a large map of Vietnam displayed at the exhibit, Lemons traced his finger across the country while naming the places he stayed on his journey to Pleiku.
"When they opened the door to the plane, you thought you were in an oven," he said.
Some memories arrived instantly. Others surfaced only in fragments.
Lemons remembered Pleiku clearly — the suffocating heat, the long ride inland after landing in Vietnam and the grinding routine of military life. Mortar and rocket fire came so often, he said, that eventually it became part of the rhythm of daily life. He said he spent his days fixing anything with wheels on it.
Larry Lemons points to Pleiku on a map of Vietnam while sharing memories from his military service Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at The Wall That Heals in Bartlesville.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
But after his barracks was struck by mortar fire and he was wounded, parts of his memory blurred together.
"There was a guy named Orie," Lemons said, pausing as he tried to remember whether that had even been the man's real name. "That's just what everybody called him."
Lemons said he was in the barracks when the attack happened.
"I never saw him again," he said.
He searched the directory but could not find the name. Lemons began naming others, but were unable to locate their names. It was bittersweet for him, knowing they had made it home but not knowing what had happened.
Then he remembered another friend.
"There was a Pap Pappin," he said. "He was in the Navy."
This time, the search found something.
John Pattrick Pappin of Pawhuska appeared in the directory, listing his date of death as March 13, 1970 on Panel 13 West, Line 120.
Larry Lemons helps carry a plate bearing the name of his friend, John Pattrick Pappin, during the assembly of The Wall That Heals on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at Lee Lake in Bartlesville.
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Lemons helped carry the plate bearing his friend's name to the wall.
Around him, volunteers continued assembling the memorial while veterans and visitors wandered quietly through the exhibit grounds. Some searched for names. Others simply stood in silence.
While helping with the wall, Lemons struck up a conversation with another Vietnam veteran volunteering at the site.
The two men realized they had served in Vietnam at the same time and stayed on the same base.
Then came the surprising part.
Turns out Lemons worked on the trucks the other man drove.
More than half a century later, the two men met again in Bartlesville beside a wall built not only to remember the dead, but also to reconnect the living.