Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall Installed in Lenox
LENOX, Mass. — With a motorcade that stretched for a mile and dozens of volunteers ready to help with the erection process, the Vietnam Traveling War Memorial arrived at War Memorial Field on Thursday afternoon.
The three-fifths scale replica of the national monument in Washington, D.C., will officially open to the public with an 11 a.m. opening ceremony on Friday morning and will be on view through a 3 p.m. closing ceremony on Sunday.
The traveling exhibit made its last stop in Berkshire County two years ago when it was installed in Dalton.
The black granite monument in the nation's capitol, designed by then 21-year-old Maya Lin, was dedicated on Veterans Day, 1982.
The 493-foot wall on the National Mall is inscribed with the names of 58,318 men and women who died in combat or are listed as missing in action in Vietnam, where the United States was at war from the 1950s through 1975.
Those same names are inscribed on the traveling wall, and the Lenox installation has the added feature of 27 markers recognizing Berkshire County residents who gave their lives in service of their country during the war.
In addition to the 27 placards designed and framed by students at McCann Tech, the local heroes are marked by 27 American flags installed on Thursday by volunteers, who also helped put up the dozens of sections of the wall.
According to the traveling memorial's website, travelingwall.us, its next stop after Lenox will be in Hudson Falls, N.Y., July 24-28.
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