The Wall That Heals, a traveling replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C., will make its only Illinois stop this year when it comes to Randall Oaks Park in West Dundee over Memorial Day weekend.
“It’s a rare moment in our lives when we get a chance to correct a mistake. We failed to honor our Vietnam veterans when they returned,” said Jerry Christopherson, president and founder of True Patriots Care. “The Wall That Heals ensures we’ll never make that mistake again.”
Christopherson requested the Vietnam Veteran Memorial Fund approve a return visit to West Dundee last May after talking with American Legion members about the idea. It was last on display at Randall Oaks Park in 2019.
“We’re all on the wrong size of 75 so if we’re going to do this again, we’d better start doing this now,” he told his fellow veterans.
The replica, which is three-quarter’s scale of the official memorial, was unveiled on Veterans Day 1996 and has been displayed in nearly 700 communities around the country, according to the memorial fund’s website. It’s 375 feet in length, stands 7 feet, 5 inches high, and contains the names of 57,939 service members who died in the war and 1,300 who are missing or were prisons of war.
It also travels with an education center, which provides such information as a timeline for the war and a section called Hometown Heroes, featuring photos of local service members.
The traveling exhibit allows Vietnam veterans and the families of those who died to see the memorial in their own community rather than having to travel to Washington. It’s meant to be a way to help Vietnam veterans who were not recognized or provided support when they returned home, according to the website.
True Patriots plans to install flags along the park route that takes people to the wall, Christopher said, and there will be an escort when the display arrives May 22. Five years ago, a few thousand people came to watch the escort, he said.
The wall opens to the public May 23 and will remain open 24 hours a day until 1 p.m. Memorial Day, May 25, when volunteers will disassemble it.
Dundee Township Park District is working with True Patriots to provide the park space, said district Executive Director Dave Peterson, who credited Christopherson as “the one who put the blood, sweat, and tears into the planning.”
Honoring Vietnam vets has been a mission for Christopherson, who was in the military during the war but did not serve in Vietnam.
“I was just lucky,” he said, but that didn’t stop him from being treated like other vets when he returned from service. At the time, some people who opposed the war would call vets “baby killers” and went as far as to spit at them, he said.
It was not unusual for veterans came home, put away their uniforms away and not talk about their service, Christopherson said.
He recalled meeting one vet who came to the exhibit in 2019 and told him he never spoke to his family about the experience and didn’t claim the Bronze Star and Purple Heart he earned. It was only after he saw the wall being installed that he started to open up and talk about it, Christopherson said.
Coming to terms with war experiences and healing is what vets call “crossing the bridge,” and the wall helps in that process, he said.
People they have the right to protest military action but not those who get sent fight, Christopherson said. “The soldiers just do what they are ordered to do,” he said.
True Patriots will be selling merchandise and doing other fundraising projects to offset the cost of bring the wall to West Dundee, he said. They’re also seeking volunteers to help set up the display.
To make a donation, sign up to help or get more information, go to www.truepatriotscare.com.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
