Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund 'Wall That Heals' Tour Coming To Erie

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – A little bit of Washington D.C. is on the way to Erie. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund announced The Wall that Heals tour is coming to here next year. They’ll bring a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to a select few cities across the U.S. to honor our Vietnam vets.

Lilly Broadcasting, in cooperation with the Erie County Department of Veterans Affairs and Zem Zem Shrine Club, will be the host organization for the visit. Hundreds of volunteers will be involved in the process.

Here at the national mall in Washington D.C., people walk by or read the names on one of the most visited sites: the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The memorial pays tribute to the men and women who served in Vietnam. It lists the names of more than 58-thousand Americans who died while serving there. In the summer of 2022, a replica of this memorial, known as ‘The Wall that Heals’ is coming to Erie.

“At VVMF we’re all about honoring and remembering everyone who served in the Vietnam war and this is one of our ways where we take that on the road and get it out all on the country,” said Heidi Zimmerman with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.

Erie is one of a select few cities across the U.S. to host this event. Visitors will get to see a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that’s in D.C. The Wall that Heals also has a mobile education center so people can learn more about this war.

“It has displays of items that has been left at the wall and it also has digital screens where we can honor the local heroes in the Vietnam which will be on display,” said Zimmerman.

The VVMF said not everyone has a chance to travel to the nation’s capital to see this memorial and so it’s important for them to take it on the road so that others can see it for themselves.

“And that’s what makes it so much more important for us to go out and take it to the people you know all around the country who are Vietnam veterans who are getting older and maybe can’t make it this far they can make it right into their hometown,” said Zimmerman. “And it also helps with the healing that they can visit this with their own you know in their own space they’re not out of town they’re in their own space with their own family.”