A traveling wall honoring the veterans who lost their lives in Vietnam is coming to New Boston.
The New Boston Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the American Veteran Traveling Tribute Wall in September. The three-fifths replica scale of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. measures nearly 300 feet and hosts the names of all the veterans who died or were lost during the Vietnam War.
It is Bernie Martin, treasurer of the Chamber, who took the initiative to bring the wall to the community after viewing it last year.
“What got me was it was in Talco the Fourth of July weekend … I had been to the one in D.C. twice and it was incredibly moving,” Martin said. “I said we have to bring this thing to New Boston … Late fall I mentioned it to the board and said I’d really like to bring the moving wall here. The board was all excited and said absolutely.”
The wall will be on display on the midway facing U.S. Highway 82 from September 4 through September 8.
Opening ceremonies will be held the first afternoon and the wall will be open to the public 24 hours a day until it comes down at 4 p.m. on its final day.
Several volunteers will be on hand to assist visitors.
Information booths will be set up at both entrances to help locate particular names of the honored. Veterans service organizations will be located under the pavilion to assist veterans on site with any assistance they may need.
Martin said the total cost to host the traveling monument will be about $25,000. Those expenses include the actual display of the wall, accommodations for the driver and additional preparations that will be included in the display.
Earlier this month, Lee Elliott, president of the New Boston Community Development Corporation, presented the Chamber with a $15,000 donation to help with the financial costs of bringing the wall.
“When he brought it to me and the CDC, we were excited. One thing, first of all, my dad and his two brothers served in Vietnam so it holds a special place in my heart with it. And being able to have the honor to bring it in, we completely embraced it,” Elliott said.
“We’re a pro-military community and I think it’s a huge honor for us to have this here.”
Local businesses have also assisted by providing materials at lower costs for the display.
The wall was first built in 1982 and was first displayed in 1984. It has traveled across the country several times and has even been displayed in Hawaii and Alaska on multiple occasions.
Martin estimates that approximately 10,000 people will come to New Boston from surrounding areas to see the traveling display.
The last time the wall came to Bowie County was in 2011 when it was displayed in Texarkana.
Elliott said bringing the wall to New Boston corresponds with a cleanup initiative the Chamber and the CDC have discussed in recent meetings.
“One thing that I felt complemented it would be to try to clean up the downtown with Earth Day … we’re wanting to paint and clean up the downtown to make sure when people come … this is a special opportunity to show off our community,” Elliott said.
