For many Americans, the current war in Iraq draws unfavorable comparisons to the Vietnam War and the senseless waste of soldier’s lives. For other Americans, the war in Iraq is a necessary struggle to protect ourselves from terrorist attacks and to rebuild an Iraq that has suffered under a brutal dictatorship. No matter what your politics or how you feel about the Iraq War, everyone suffers when soldiers fall. Parents lose children, children lose parents, and husbands and wives become early widows. And so it was with the Vietnam War.
To remember lost loved ones, thousands of people each year travel to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (the Wall) in Washington DC. Some bring their children, too young to remember the Vietnam War, as a quantifiable (and non-graphic) way to educate them about the cost of war past and present. Still others visit as a means of paying respect to those who gave their lives in service.
For all those unable to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, there are other ways to see the Wall without leaving home.
Several organization has created scale replicas of the Wall and take them around the country to towns that schedule a visit. Each organization’s website has a schedule posted so you can see if a traveling Wall will be in your area soon.
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is a three fifths scale replica of the original Wall. At its tallest point, it is six feet high, and it reaches almost three hundred feet long. The website for the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall is fairly commercial, with hats for sale and screensaver downloads. And if you’re into that sort of thing, you can even download a “Current Terror Alert Level” warning icon (that changes with the current threat level) for your blog or website.
But it’s not all threats and merchandise. The Vietnam and All Veterans of Brevard (the folks who own this particular wall) is a non-profit group active in Brevard, Florida. They assist homeless veterans in finding housing and participate in local activities.
The Moving Wall™
The Moving Wall website places a heavy emphasis on the volunteer work and community spirit that goes into putting together the half-sized replica. The pictures posted show how the Wall is physically constructed by volunteers on-site.
I learned quite a bit from this website. There are links to a Virtual Wall and information about women military personal and civilians who died in Vietnam.
American Veterans Traveling Tribute
The American Veterans Traveling Tribute (AVTT) is a four-fifths scale replica of the wall. It is eight feet high at the tallest point and over 370 feet long, making it the largest of the traveling walls. In addition to a Vietnam Veterans Memorial replica, the AVTT exhibit comes with a “Cost of Freedom” memorial to honor other servicemen and women who have died since the Vietnam War, an art exhibit, and a “Walk of Heroes” display.
Dignity Memorial® Vietnam Wall
Dignity Memorial is a “funeral, cremation, and cemetery provider.” The company has also ventured into other community outreach programs, like burying homeless veterans in National Cemeteries and grief counseling for widows. The Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall functions just like any of the others, as a three-quarter sized replica traveling from town to town, but is sponsored in every location by a Dignity Memorial provider.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Website
If a traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial will not be in your area any time soon, visit the official website of the Wall. (http://thewall-USA.com) All 58,256 names on the Wall of those who died or went missing in action in Vietnam are represented on this site. You can search for individual soldiers by name, by panel, and you can even look at casualties and birthdays for today’s date. Each soldier has his (or her, in the case of the eight women represented on the Wall) own comment page where people may leave virtual tributes. In addition, each soldier has information listed such as dates served, how and where they died, whether or not the body was recovered, and rank.
Resources:
The official Vietnam Veterans Memorial website: http://thewall-USA.com
Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall: http://www.dignitymemorial.com/DignityMemorial/VietnamWall.aspx?id=COR
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall: http://www.travelingwall.us/
The Moving Wall: http://www.themovingwall.org/
The American Veterans Traveling Tribute: http://www.avtt.org/
Reference:
- The official Vietnam Veterans Memorial website: thewall-USA.com
