By Staff
A half-scale traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., goes on public display in the Original Washington today through Sunday.
Opening ceremonies for the visit by The Wall That Heals begin at 9 a.m. today at Veterans Memorial Park on East Third Street, where the wall will be displayed. The wall commemorates the more than 58,000 men and women who were killed during the 10 years of the Vietnam War.
The opening ceremonies begin with a B-52 flyover and include keynote remarks by retired Army Col. Walter Joseph Marm Jr. from Fremont, a Medal of Honor recipient, and a POW-MIA ceremony. Washington Mayor Archie Jennings is among others scheduled to speak at the event. Allan Hoffman, news anchor for WNCT-TV in Greenville and a Vietnam veteran, will read the names of 42 people from Beaufort County and surrounding counties who died in the Vietnam War. Hoffman was a combat helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War. Among those names Hoffman reads will be Warren Lee Beacham, James Leroy Brown, Joseph Henry Downing Jr., Carl Frederick Hodges Jr., Gary Hoyt Leary and Paul Marion Nance Jr., all from Washington.
At the end of the opening ceremonies, doves will be released.
Area veterans organizations and community members have helped raise funds for the project. The City of Washington and Beaufort County Board of Commissioners each pledged $2,000.
The traveling memorial is owned and operated by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, a private, nonprofit organization.