A traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial helps spread the healing legacy of the wall to northwest Ohio.
Owens Community College, the AMVETS Post 21, and other sponsors helped bring The Wall That Heals to the college campus this weekend. The display is a three-quarter scale of the real memorial in Washington D.C., complete with over 58,000 names of military personnel that died in the Vietnam War. The traveling exhibit gives people the chance to look up and touch the names of loved ones they have lost or fought beside in the conflict, and local organizers hope it gives family members and fellow Vietnam veterans a sense of closure.
"Ir varies, some guys will have closure, some guys will take multiple times before they'll even make an attempt to go up to the wall to have their closure," said Josh Davis, commander of Sons of AMVETS Post 21 Findlay. "I've had volunteers that are Vietnam Vets and they didn't want to go past their information tent because they're just not ready to go yet."
The staff of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund who transport the wall, says taking the wall to places like Findlay is like bringing the names home to the communities where they lived.
"Well, we call our replica the Wall that Heals because we know the wall in Washington D.C. and this replica as we go around the country, help people start or complete their healing journey and so that's part of why we come to communities is to give people who may have not been to the wall in Washington D.C. an opportunity to have that healing experience," explained Jim Knotts, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund staff.
Since the traveling exhibit began in 1996 it has visited over 700 places across the United States.
