Giving Vietnam veterans the welcome home they missed decades ago. That's one of the goals of The Wall That Heals, a traveling Vietnam War memorial that is on display in Myrtle Beach this week. The wall will be set up on the former Pavilion Amusement Park site on Ocean Boulevard May 24 - 27.
The wall's visit will serve as a kickoff to Military Appreciation Days in Myrtle Beach.
The traveling wall is a half-scale version of the original memorial that tours the country, stopping at more than 20 locations this year.
The Wall That Heals is not the only replica Vietnam memorial. Veterans who were involved in bringing the wall to Myrtle Beach say there are at least a half-dozen other traveling replicas, some of them commercial operations. But The Wall That Heals is the only one sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, the non-profit organization authorized by Congress to build the national memorial in Washington, D.C. in 1982. The replica wall was launched by the veterans group in 1996.
The Veterans Welcome Home and Resource Center in Little River is the local sponsor for the replica's visit to Myrtle Beach.
Other veterans groups will also be involved in the wall's stop on the Grand Strand, including the Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina, which will hold a wreath-laying ceremony at the replica wall Tuesday evening at 6 p.m.
Chapter president Sharon Russell says her group chose to get involved in the wall's visit as a way to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam.
"A lot of veterans of the Vietnam War came home to a horrible reception, had a great deal of difficulty recuperating both in physical and emotional wounds," Russell said. "This is known as The Wall That Heals and by going around from community to community in the United States, it enables people to come in in small numbers on their own time and pay tribute to their comrades."
Russell said the wall can't make up for the difficulties Vietnam veterans experienced as they returned from the war, but it can help get the healing process started.
"This is a great therapeutic tool to get them to recognize what their comrades gave up and to recognize what contribution they actually made during that war."
The replica wall is about 250 feet long and bears the names of all 58,000 servicemen and women who died or are missing in action from the Vietnam era.
Opening ceremonies for The Wall That Heals will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 25th. It will be available for viewing 24 hours a day, with a veteran on duty to answer the public's questions about the wall, until closing ceremonies 2 p.m. Friday, May 27th.
