Lettie Gingerich, of Redondo Beach Calif., wipes tears from her eyes while viewing the name of her son, Gregory Gingerich, on the Moving Wall, Sunday, June 30, 2002, in Long Beach Calif. The wall is coming to Wareham later this summer. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
WAREHAM – The “Moving Wall”, which is a half-sized replica of the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is making its way to Wareham in August.
The Moving Wall organization put together the memorial to travel the country and bring the experience to veterans and families that want to commemorate the sacrifices made during the Vietnam War.
The monument contains the names of more than 50,000 American service personnel who died in or because of their service, during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s.
Preparations are underway to host the display in town August 17-21.
The Wareham Veterans Council held an orientation last month for those interested in volunteering for the Moving Wall event.
Matt Stanton with the Council said that they have spent a lot of time organizing the event.
“They wanted to make a significant impact on the community to get the people of Wareham and the surrounding communities to come together in support of veterans, and they felt by bringing the moving wall was a great way to do it,” said Stanton.
The State Senate recently passed a budget for Fiscal Year 2018 that included $25,000 for the Council to host the Moving Wall memorial.
That’s about 50 percent of the funding needed to have the event.
The Friends of the Wareham Veterans Council are also working to fundraise the rest of the cost of bringing the wall to town.
The Moving Wall will be exhibited at the Andersson Track adjacent to Wareham Middle School on Viking Drive.
The Council is expecting up to 30,000 people to visit the display while it is in town, as it will be open all day and night and there will be a major ceremony taking place each day.
Stanton is expecting that people will have a wide range of emotions when they see the display.
“It will be a chance to celebrate our American way of life and the freedoms that we enjoy because of these over 58,000 service members who have gave their life so we can live free,” said Stanton.
The Wall is 253 feet long and is composed of 74 aluminum panels
By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter
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