The Wall That Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, made its Hawaiʻi debut in Hilo.
The exhibit, which will be on display 24 hours a day through Sunday, January 28, includes a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial along with a mobile Education Center. The Education Center will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
The traveling exhibit honors the 3-million Americans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in the Vietnam War and it bears the names of the 59,281 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam.
Since its debut in 1996, the exhibit has been on display in more than 700 U.S. communities in addition to an April 1999 tour of Ireland and a 2005 visit to Canada.
The Wall That Heals is a program of VVMF, the nonprofit organization that built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1982.
The mobile Education Center exhibit includes: photos of “Hometown Heroes” – service members whose names are on The Wall that list their home of record within the area of a visit; photos of Vietnam veterans from the local area honored through VVMF’s In Memory program which honors veterans who returned home from Vietnam and later died; video displays that teach about the history and impact of The Wall; items representative of those left at The Wall in D.C.; a map of Vietnam and a chronological overview of the Vietnam War.
A Welcome Home Ceremony will be held on Saturday, January 27 to honor Vietnam veterans who died in battle.
