PORT TOWNSEND — The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter sized replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is coming to Jefferson County next week.
“Port Townsend is the host, it’s really meant for the whole region,” said Jim Kelley, a Vietnam veteran helping to organize the event.
Engraved on the wall are 58,281 names of veterans who lost their lives in the war. Among those names are the names of 20 soldiers who came from the area.
The list of names with the dates of their deaths, their hometown and their panel number will be provided as handouts at the wall.
Family members of the six soldiers from Port Townsend and Nordland plan to visit the wall, Kelley said.
Seven soldiers’ names from Port Angeles and Forks are also included, along with names from the broader region.
The 375-foot long wall, which travels by truck from community to community, is constructed of 140 synthetic granite panels.
Taking a pencil and paper, visitors can rub a veterans name onto the paper, Kelley said.
The wall also honors the more than 3 million Americans who served in Vietnam, a press release said.
Arching upwards towards the middle, the wall stands at 7.5 feet tall at its apex.
LED lights keep the names legible through the night and the wall is open to the public 24 hours a day, from 10 a.m. Thursday to 2 p.m. Sunday.
The wall is currently in Ellensburg and will arrive at the American Legion Port Townsend, 209 Monroe Street, on Tuesday morning.
A procession of veterans on motorcycles and in classic cars will depart at 12:30 p.m. on its way to the Jefferson County Airport, where the replica will be constructed.
“People are invited to line up on the street wherever you can to see it,” Kelley said. “It’s not a parade. It’s not a celebration. It’s more like a procession. We want a lot of people to see it. They like people to be there to honor it, cross their heart, take off their hat. They can wave at it with the flag or without a flag and just respect it, not celebrate, respect it.”
The wall will be assembled by groups of volunteers throughout the day on Wednesday.
On Thursday at 10 a.m., an opening ceremony will be held at the wall.
On Friday at 8 p.m., a candlelit event honoring those affected by Agent Orange, will take place.
“Right after sunset, when it starts to get dark, people are assembled (and) they have a scripted ceremony talking about Agent Orange and all that,” Kelley said.
People will hold candles or their cell phones, and stand in formation in front of the wall, he added.
The wall, generally lit throughout the night, will be dark during the ceremony.
“They turn off the lights and they play ‘Taps’,” Kelley said. “We’re going to have a bagpiper.”
“Taps” will be played every night at sunset.
A closing ceremony will take place on Sept. 14 at 1:45 p.m.
For Kelley, the wall is personal.
“I am a Vietnam vet and I have a close connection to the war,” Kelley said. “My class of 1965 from West Point, almost all of us spent some time in Vietnam and there’s 26 of us who didn’t come back.”
Following the war, it took many years for the American public to understand that the individual soldiers were not to blame for the war, Kelley said.
Kelley has found that people understand the value of the catharsis that the wall can bring.
“I have a lot of friends, they were violent protesters in the 60s, but now they see the value of this,” Kelley said. “They realize this is a healing thing.”
Speaking about the wall with veterans gets a very emotional response, Kelley said.
“Almost every time, by the time you finish talking to them, and this is not once, this is many times, they’re breaking down, realizing just like I have,” Kelley said.
Kelley said that this year is particularly significant as April 30 marked 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War.
The names of soldiers from the area included on the wall are Marvin G. Shields, John Everett Paddock, Timothy James McMahon, Stephen Ray Lopeman, William Thomas Smith, Monte Raoul de Vere, Ronald Russel Pearson, Dean Harold Messersmith, Richard Edward White, Gary Bede Simkins, Paul J. Raber, Vernon Eugene Depew, Norman Elliot Lodholm, Dominick Anthony Spinelli, George Sablan Meno, James Scott Langworthy, Marvin Charles Hill, Robin Lee Olmstead, Patrick A. Whitlock and Richard Frank Salazar.
The 53-foot trailer that carries the wall turns into a mobile education center once the wall is removed. The exterior of the trailer becomes a timeline of the war and the wall. Among other things, there will be a display of photos of veterans from the area.
Attendees can learn about tours at ptal26.org/tours-at-the-wall/.
Volunteers are still needed. Interested parties can sign-up at tinyurl.com/apzwjpc7. In addition to things like parking volunteers, docents are needed — these positions require some training about the wall, Kelley said.
Since the wall is open around the clock, some volunteers are needed for very late and early shifts, he said.
The Port Townsend American Legion, and the Port Hadlock Veterans of Foreign War are the hosts of the wall’s visit with support by the Port of Port Townsend and members of the DAR, Elks, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs, a press release said.
To learn more about The Wall That Heals, visit its website at vvmf.org/The-Wall-That-Heals/.
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@peninsuladailynews.com
