Penn State Fayette hosts Wall That Heals
Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, will host The Wall That Heals this week to honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Vietnam War.
“We are truly grateful about the opportunity to partner with the Fayette County Cultural Trust on this project to honor those who served in the Vietnam War,” said Charles Patrick, chancellor and chief academic officer at Penn State Fayette in Lemont Furnace. “Our location along a major thoroughfare (Route 119) between Uniontown and Connellsville makes our campus an ideal site for this exhibit. We are extremely proud to have been chosen to host the memorial.”
The Wall That Heals is a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., along with a mobile education center, all of which will be on display at the campus baseball field Thursday through Sunday.
A “Welcome Home” ceremony will be held on Thursday at 4 p.m., which includes a posting of the colors by the Vietnam Veterans Inc. of Fayette County, and remarks from Patrick and Daniel Cocks, executive director of the Fayette County Cultural Trust. Dignitaries from the county and the state are also scheduled to attend. Vietnam Veterans, Inc. of Fayette County will take part in the retiring of colors, and Dave Meredith, a retired Penn State Fayette professor, will play “Taps.”
Cocks said there will also be a presentation by Vietnam veteran and seasoned actor Stu Richel called “Vietnam … through my lens” to take place at the Maggie Hardy Magerko Auditorium at noon on Friday.
“This is a soldier’s story, told by an awfully good storyteller,” Cocks said. “His command of the stage and the English language captivates the audience in a manner similar to Mark Twain.”
The wall honors the more than 3 million Americans who served in the Vietnam War, and it bears the names of the 58,281 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Cocks said 49 service members from Fayette County lost their lives during the war, and 693 service members lost their lives in the counties surrounding Fayette.
The wall and education center will be open 24 hours a day and are free to the public.
“The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) is pleased to bring The Wall That Heals mobile exhibit to Lemont Furnace, to allow local veterans and their family members a chance to experience The Wall,” said Jim Knotts, president and CEO of the VVMF, which constructed the original wall. “Hosting The Wall That Heals provides an opportunity to honor and remember all those who served and sacrificed in the Vietnam War and educate visitors on the continuing impact of the Vietnam War on America.”
The Wall is transported from community to community in a 53-foot trailer. When parked, the trailer opens with exhibits built into its sides, allowing it to serve as a mobile education center telling the story of the Vietnam War, the wall and the divisive era in American history.
The mobile wall is 375 feet in length and stands 7.5 feet high at its tallest point. Visitors will experience the wall rising above them as they walk toward the apex, a key feature of the design of the wall in D.C..
Visitors will also be able to do name rubbings of individual service member’s names on the mobile wall.
The mobile education center exhibit includes digital photo displays of “Hometown Heroes,” service members whose names are on the wall that list their home of record within the area of a visit; digital photo displays 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; educational exhibits told through items representative of those left at the wall in D.C.; a replica of the “In Memory” plaque; a map of Vietnam and a chronological overview of the Vietnam War.
The cost to host the wall is $11,000, and, along with Penn State Fayette and the Fayette County Cultural Trust, others who have contributed to bringing the wall to Fayette include the county, Armstrong, the National Daughters of the American Revolution Fort Necessity Chapter and individual donations.
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 the Four Provinces of Ireland and a visit to Canada in 2005.
“We are extremely proud to have been chosen to host the memorial given the 693 local service members who died in the Vietnam War,” said Joshua Simon, marketing and communications specialist at Penn State Fayette.
Cocks said the Fayette County Cultural Trust is still seeking volunteers to assist while the wall is at Penn State, and anyone interested can get more information at www.fayettetrust.org/wall-that-heals-2023.
For more information on The Wall That Heals, visit www.thewallthatheals.org.