The Wall That Heals coming to Plymouth

Vietnam Memorial will stand at W.V.W. High School 

By ALAN K. STOUT

Westside Bulletin Correspondent

For nearly four decades, countless Americans have made pilgrimages to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The two-acre monument honors service members of the U.S. armed forces who fought in the Vietnam War, service members who died in service in Vietnam/South East Asia, and those service members who were unaccounted for during the war. The memorial consists of three parts: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, which is the best-known part of the memorial; The Three Soldiers; and the Vietnam Women's Memorial. It receives about three million visitors each year.

The Memorial Wall features more than 58,000 names of members of the American armed forces who were killed in Vietnam. And from September 5 through September 8, The Wall That Heals, a traveling replica of the Memorial Wall, will be on display in Plymouth. It is being brought to the community by V.F.W. Post 1425 in Plymouth and it will be on display on the grounds of Wyoming Valley West High School. Clyde Peters, the manager of V.F.W Post 1425, says that though a similar traveling memorial wall came to Swoyersville two years ago, the new “The Wall That Heals” is much larger.    

Clyde Peters at V.F.W. Post 125

“That was 250 feet long, whereas this one is 375 feet long,” says Peters. “At the peak, in the center, it’s seven and a half feet high. It’s huge. It’s beautiful.”

Because of its height, visitors experience the The Wall That Heals rising above them as they walk towards the apex, which is a key feature of The Memorial Wall in Washington. The Wall That Heals is also erected in a chevron shape and visitors can do name rubbings of individual service member’s names on The Wall. The exhibit also features a mobile education center which features a photographic display of hometown heroes, a map of Vietnam and other pieces of information and items from the Vietnam War.

Peters, who has managed V.F.W. Post 1425 for 16 years, received two Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam. He has also battled cancer twice, which has been attributed to Agent Orange.  He has visited the actual Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington and he was there when President Ronald Reagan dedicated the nearby monument of The Three Soldiers. Peters spearheaded the efforts to bring The Wall That Heals to Plymouth.

“There are more than 100 applicants each year and only 34 towns are chosen,” he says.  “To get it, you have to be very lucky or be a very good talker. I told them my story, and our story, and I told them everything that was true. I told them that we were just a small community of less than 6,000 people, and that we lost seven young men in Vietnam, just from this town. One was my nephew, David Lee.  He was 18 years old. He was a medic. He stepped on a booby-trap and was killed. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to bring it here. But the main reason was to honor all of our Vietnam veterans, and any veteran that served our country. It doesn’t have to be Vietnam. A veteran is a veteran.”

The Wall That Heals

Peters, who helped escort the body of his nephew back from Vietnam,  says he first got the news that The Wall That Heals was coming to Plymouth back in December. His first emotion was one of gratitude.

“The first thing I did was thank the Good Lord,” he says. “It meant a lot to me and it meant a lot to our community. I know a lot of people don’t want to talk about the war, and I know what our Vietnam vets went through, and I know what I went through coming back. In many ways, we weren’t treated the best. Even the VA system didn’t treat us very well. We were called murders and baby killers. I remember thinking, ‘Wait a minute … I’m a part of your team. Why are you talking about me like that? I did my job. I was told to go there and I did, for my country.’ But, just like a lot of stuff today, it was all politics. So what do you do? You turn the other cheek and you move on.”

Eventually, Peters said he saw a great shift in attitudes toward Vietnam veterans, especially after the United States went to war in the Middle East in the early ‘90s and mid-2000s.

“As the nation healed over the years, and we had Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, people pulled together,” he says. “Even if you hate the war, don’t hate the soldier. If you hate the war – fine – but don’t hate the warrior. It’s their job.”

Peters says a supportive planning committee was formed to help bring The Wall to Plymouth. Their efforts received full cooperation from the borough and the Wyoming Valley West School District. It will be escorted into town by a long motorcade featuring local emergency vehicles and motorcyclists.

“It’s not just for Plymouth,” says Peters. “It’s for the whole county. And really, it’s not just for our county, but the state of Pennsylvania.  We want to share our honor with everyone, and our disappointment, and hurt. It’s a healing process. And it’s not just for veterans to heal. It’s for all of us to heal. Chill out. Do the right thing. Teach our children that war is not the best thing – we all know that – but don’t dishonor the warrior. His job is to do what he’s needed to do. This is to honor people who gave their lives, many of whom were only 18, 19 or 20 years old.

“I was there in ’68 at the height of the war,” he adds. “The Tet Offensive was still going on.  We had 580,000 troops over there. And there were a lot of other nations involved, trying to stop communism. We’ve come a long way to make things right.” 

Thousands are expected to visit The Wall That Heals during its three-day stop in Plymouth. It will be open to guests 24 hours per day. Peters says that some Vietnam veterans often chose to come at night when the crowds are smaller.

“They want to talk to their buddies,” he says, his eyes welling with tears. ”Every time I go there, my eyes well up.”

For more information on The Wall That Heals, visit: www.vvmf.org/The-Wall-That-Heals