CINCINNATI — A traveling Vietnam Memorial wall is on display at Cincinnati’s Sayler Park this weekend.
The wall is a smaller version of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. It stands six feet tall and covers almost 300 feet from end to end. The traveling memorial stands as a reminder of the great sacrifices made during the Vietnam War. It's an opportunity for people to visit loved ones in their hometown, especially for those who aren't able to travel to Washington D.C.
"Every person should be able to sleep at night,” said Jackie Apted, president of Sayler Park Historical Society. “I want there to be healing at the wall. Mothers to be able to see their son’s name. Families to be able to see loved one's names. I want them to find peace at the wall, peace with God and peace with what happened to them."
Doc Russo manages the traveling memorial. He said it takes seeing the names in person to get a sense for how many people are honored.
“As they get closer to the wall, they start to realize that each one of those is a name that's only a couple inches long and then they start realizing how many names are on there," Russo said.
Before arriving at Sayler Park Thursday via motorcycle escort, the traveling wall came from Pennsylvania. The wall will be disassembled Monday and head off to the next display location in New Hampshire.
