Moving VNV Memorial Wall Makes Way to Desert Hot Springs (Video)

By Cpl. Dave Flores, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms

In 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall was built and dedicated to those who served and died in the Vietnam War.

While attending the dedication in 1982, a group of artists felt the positive power of The Wall and felt it should be shared not only in Washington D.C., but across the country.

Sitting at about half the size of the actual Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, the two replicas began their journey in Tyler, Texas in 1984.

Today, the walls travel across the country from April to November, to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The city of Desert Hot Springs hosted The Moving Wall at their local Mission Springs Park from June 22 to June 26, 2017.

During the Vietnam War more than 58,000 service members, both men and women, were either killed or deemed missing in action.

The Wall has the names of those men and women etched onto a reflective stone, so visitors can not only see the names, but see themselves, reflecting on the lives of the people who fought and died to keep them safe.

(Learn More. Courtesy of VVMF and YouTube)

Bringing The Wall to communities across the country allows the souls enshrined on the Memorial to exist once more among family and friends in the peace and comfort of familiar surroundings.

It provides thousands of veterans who have been unable to cope with the prospect of facing The Wall to find the strength and courage to do so within their own communities, thus allowing the healing process to begin.

“We wanted the Moving Wall here in Desert Hot Springs to give our veterans the chance to pay homage to those who lost their lives in the Vietnam War,” said Requita Grant, event coordinator, Community and Cultural Affairs.

Original post http://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/1234309/moving-vietnam-veterans-memorial-wall-makes-way-to-desert-hot-springs/