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NATCHEZ — The audience of the Sept. 25 Natchez Rotary Club luncheon heard from Doug McCallister, a Natchez native who served in the United States Army from 1964 through 1967, on how the Miss Lou could benefit from a local replica of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall based on his first-hand experience.

On display during McCallister’s presentation to Rotarians were 13 flags, each one representing a young U.S. soldier who had been killed in action during the 2021 evacuation attempt at Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

McCallister said each one of those deaths was “needless, boundless, should not have ever happened.”

Included in the middle of those flags was one for Mike Clausen, a native of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, who assisted Point Man International Ministries of the Miss Lou in its effort to display a traveling Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall in the Chester Willis baseball field in 1992.

“I became friends with Mike and we stayed in touch following that,” McCallister said.

Clausen had been nominated for the Medal of Honor when he acted as the crew chief on an H-53 helicopter that flew into a “hot” landing zone and took fire, McCallister said.

After being commanded not to leave the aircraft, Clausen did and, as a result, saved the lives of 17 other wounded Marines, McCallister said.

“Unless you knew Mike Clausen, you never knew how many lives he saved.”

It’s brave men like Clausen that McCallister and the Point Man International Ministry of the Miss Lou seeks to recognize with an 80 percent scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, except the memorial would include the names of casualties and tributes to service men and women and first responders in every generation who were involved in Iraq, Afghanistan, 9/11, World War I and World War II, Gulf War, and Korean wars in addition to Vietnam.

“No one will be excluded,” McCallister said. “We’re going to be inclusive in our efforts to honor our heroes.”

The acre site at 270 Front St., near the Vidalia, Louisiana, riverfront RV Park, would contain the wall, which would be 360 feet long and 8 feet tall at its apex.

The wall would also include surrounding elements such as a sidewalk, a Huey helicopter for static display, and, most importantly, an open-air chapel, McCallister said.

“We need to have a chapel in these types of memorials,” McCallister said.

“I have never seen the Washington memorial, but everyone who has always shared one thought. Before you get to the Vietnam Veteran Memorial, there is an air of quietness, peace and reverence. I would like to think that we can obtain somewhat that spirit on our riverfront.”

Point Man International Ministries of the Miss Lou has been actively fundraising for the wall since 2016. With the Town of Vidalia’s support, the wall is closer now than ever before to coming to fruition. However, more fundraising is still needed for the surrounding elements of the wall and for the maintenance of it.

“The wall as I’ve described it is “$225,000 and thus far we’ve raised $50,000. We’re still at $175,000 to complete it and when that’s done we take a step back and begin working on fundraising for our infrastructure and related costs that go with it,” McCallister said.

He captivated the Natchez Rotary Club with stories about his own war experience.

“I had the experience of wearing an M60 machine gun through elephant grass at night through the Central Highlands. That will get your attention,” he said. “I also had the experience of driving a five-ton truck over a landmine. Harold Tyson was my shotgun. Let me be clear, it was only because of the unmerited favor of God that I lived to tell you about it. That should not happen.”

While it has been nearly 60 years since his tour, McCallister said, “My service to our country and to our people is something that is never very far away from me.”

He lives with those experiences weighing on his mind and for that reason, “I hold our freedoms near and dear,” he said. “Of the men and women of our armed services we cannot be too mindful, too considerate or too prayerful for them and also for their families in the absence of their life.”

The wall, McCallister said, benefits the entire Miss Lou from an economic standpoint as veteran’s groups from around the world would likely be drawn to the area for conventions and to see the memorial wall. It also benefits the youth from an educational standpoint.

“When we talk about our memorial and the fundraising we’ve done, it’s important for me to relay to you some of those people and organizations who’ve been responsive to us,” McCallister said. “One that I’m extremely proud of is Vidalia Upper Elementary School. The third, fourth and fifth-grade classes have contributed close to $3,000 to this project. … Each class has a bucket, jar or some kind of container that they drop change in all week long. This has been over a period of three Veteran’s Days that they’ve raised this.”

Another group McCallister recognized is Calvary Baptist Church, which raised more than $2,500 selling pies and cakes in a bake sale. The ministry hosted a jambalaya cook-off that raised another $3,100.

“The message that I receive from that is, yes, our community is interested in what we’re doing,” McCallister said. “They’re supportive of what we’re doing and I’d like to ask you to give some thought and consideration to that too. And also, I’d like to invite you if you have a suggestion or an idea, we are certainly open and receptive to that.”

Contributions to the memorial can be made online at www.misslouveterans.org or by mail to 207 Carter St., Vidalia, LA, 71373. For more information, email misslouvets@gmail.com.