Traveling walls honoring Vietnam vets, 9/11 victims coming to Brownsville
The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall will return to Brownsville this weekend to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Vietnam War.
A 9/11 memorial wall will also be part of the exhibit to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The walls are expected to arrive at Brownsville Area High School on Friday, and will be open to the public starting Saturday.
Two years ago, the Brownsville Area Military Honor Roll Committee hosted the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall at Brownsville High School.
“We don’t know how many attended, but we had a very good turnout,” said Eadi Zetty, secretary of the honor roll committee. “The high school campus is level, there’s plenty of access and plenty of parking.”
The committee started corresponding with Doc Russo, based in Florida, who owns and maintains the wall.
According to Russo’s website, the wall is a three-fifths scale of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., standing 6 feet tall at its center, and is almost 300 feet from end to end.
“We asked him (Russo) if he could make a return trip here, and he said he certainly will,” Zetty said.
Not only will the Vietnam wall make its return, a 9/11 traveling memorial wall will also be in tow.
“We had the Vietnam wall over the Fourth of July, and this time we wanted to have it over 9/11,” Zetty said.
On Friday morning, members of the Brownsville American Legion Riders and several other motorcycle organizations will meet the truck and trailer containing the walls at a truck stop along Interstate 70 in Washington County and escort them to the high school.
Zetty said the walls will be set up Friday, and an opening ceremony is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday, which will include local officials, presentation of colors, playing of the national anthem, a benediction and a few speakers.
“We also had 14 local veterans who were killed in Vietnam,” Zetty said. “We have a wreath for each one to be placed at the wall where their names are.”
Zetty said the walls will be free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday to Monday, with a 9/11 ceremony set for 4 p.m. on Sept. 11. Local fire companies will participate.
A closing ceremony will be held Tuesday at 10 a.m., when the wreaths of the fallen local veterans placed along the wall will be given to their families to keep.
Zetty said the walls will then be dismantled to be transported to the next community.
The traveling wall exhibit is sponsored by the honor roll committee.
For more information on the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall, visit www.travelingwall.us/.