Replica Vietnam Veterans Memorial makes New Boston temporary home

NEW BOSTON, Texas. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Moving Wall is a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. It has been touring the country for decades, and for the first time it is making a stop in New Boston, Texas.

“They can find the name and we actually have a method where they can do a rubbing and actually rub the name of the person they want. It’s a sense of closure. Gives people the ability to put this behind them.” says Bernie Martin with the New Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Volunteers are on hand to help a steady stream of visitors find names. Some of the volunteers are local students, who get the chance to see how events they may have only learned about in school have had lasting impacts on people’s lives.

“It’s pretty sad sometimes, but also wholesome. You find people that can like find their names and they have stories to talk about. It’s really inspiring.” says Kenneth Curb with the New Boston High School National Honor Society

Etched into the wall are over 58,000 names, each one of which represents a soldier who died fighting in the Vietnam War.

“I’ve got a cousin on the wall. I’ve got friends that I was with over there. We’ve got several names on that wall that I know,” says Vietnam veteran Carl “Butch” Hall.

The replica is still only half the size of its counterpart in D.C.. Still, not everyone can make that pilgrimage, so having a version of it come to their community is the opportunity of a lifetime for many veterans.

“We have approximately 150 Vietnam vets that belong to our unit in Texarkana, and I would say that probably 50 to 60% of them have never seen the big wall,” says Hall, “It’s really good for the veterans, it’s good for them to have closure and what they were doing when they were overseas.”

The installation also features an eternal flame and a missing man table.

The wall will remain open to the public at T&P Trailhead Park 24/7 until 4 p.m. on Monday, September 8th.