The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall has arrived in Aurora and is on display in Hartman Park, located at 305 Townline Rd. The wall opened for public viewing June 22 and will remain open through Sunday, June 25.
Aurora Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2629 has been working on the project for more than a year, raising funds to bring the wall to Aurora through donations by organizations and private citizens. A committee consisting of Chair Tony Dockus, David Kuhary, Rand Kaiser, Dennis Kray, Kenneth Reik, Rick Carpenter and Jeff Cox spearheaded the fundraising effort that enabled the VFW to rent the wall for $10,000.
“Without the physical wall being here, you think of (the soldiers) and that’s a wonderful thing, but to come here, you look at the wall and it’s a whole new presentation,” Kaiser said.
The wall at Hartman Park is a three-fifths replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., standing 6 feet tall at the center and covering almost 300 feet from end to end (the wall in D.C. is 496 feet, 6 inches end to end and stands 10 feet, 3 inches high at the center). And like the name implies, it travels to communities across the country.
It also differs in that it has dots to separate the names instead of crosses or diamonds.
“It’s a cross if (a soldier) is missing in action, then it gets converted to a diamond if they find the remains,” Kuhary said of the wall in D.C.
Each day the traveling wall is open, a ceremony is held at noon to honor those who served in the Vietnam War.
“We will have seven local mayors presenting a military wreath to honor the deceased veterans, three county commissioners for Portage County as well as many independent veterans that will be at the noon ceremony,” Dockus said.
The wall will be open for 75 continuous hours, with police surveillance. The VFW post has hired the Aurora Police Department to supply officers.
“The VFW will pay an hourly rate as a side job to assist with traffic and security for the event,” Aurora Police Chief Brian Byard said.
The wall also has an information tent that is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The tent houses an information service, a locator service, a paper-transfer service for names on the wall, and some goods in exchange for donations.
“(The VFW post) made a bunch of embroidered patches as a souvenir for the weekend,” Dockus said. “We’re not selling them. If you make a donation, you get a patch.”
Also at the wall, an “information fair” for veterans is held each day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The fair features booths with information from veterans organizations, including the Portage County Veterans Service Office, Veterans Affairs medical and Veterans Affairs benefits.
“We’re having a state representative pass out information on the new PACT Act,” Dockus said of a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances. “Also, Project Healing Waters will be out, a nationwide group that works with veterans with PTSD to basically teach them fly-fishing to help ease some of the transitions that are going on in their life.”
“This is what’s nice about this traveling memorial wall – it gives people in the community that haven’t had the opportunity to visit the national memorial in Washington an opportunity to come and visit it here,” Kuhary said.
All in all, it’s a unique opportunity for veterans and their loved ones to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in their own community.