Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is coming to Lacey later this month.
The memorial bears the names of 58,281 service members who died during the Vietnam War, according to a City of Lacey statement released on June 11.
Accompanying the wall is a 53-foot Education Center that explores the war’s history, the creation of the memorial, and the experiences of veterans who served in Vietnam.
The traveling exhibit will open to the public at 2 p.m. on June 24 at Chambers Prairie Elementary School, 6501 Virginia St. SE, and remain on display through June 28. Admission is free, and the site will stay open 24 hours a day throughout its time in Lacey.
Since 1996, the traveling memorial has visited communities throughout the United States. Organizers say the program offers Vietnam veterans an opportunity to receive the recognition many did not receive when they returned from service.
Preparations begin June 24 at 8:30 a.m. A volunteer training session, including a special tour of the site, is scheduled for 6 p.m. on June 24.
Events continue on June 25 with a Welcome Home Ceremony from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The program includes an invocation from VFW Post 318 Chaplain Joel Soel, and a land blessing and acknowledgment from representatives of the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe.
Washington Lt. Gov. Denny Heck is scheduled to speak during the ceremony. Laura Kern, a former surgical nurse at the 67th Evacuation Hospital in Qui Nhon, Vietnam, is also expected to participate.
Group tours are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on June 26 and 27. Both evenings conclude with the playing of TAPS near sunset at approximately 9:11 p.m. A candlelight ceremony dedicated to PTSD and suicide awareness is planned for June 26 at 9:41 p.m.
No tours are scheduled for June 28. Organizers have not announced a time for the closing ceremony. Removal of the memorial is set to begin at 2 p.m. on June 28.
The visit will also feature the In Memory program, which was established in 1993 to recognize veterans who survived the war but later died from service-related illnesses, including conditions associated with Agent Orange exposure and PTSD.
According to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, more than 7,000 veterans have been added to the program’s honor roll.
Digital photographs of Washington state honorees will be displayed during the visit. Family members may share memories through the program’s online remembrance page.
3 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
longtimeresident
Nice that it is staying open 24 hrs. a day............
Tuesday, June 16 Report this
SecondOtter
I was stationed in the Army just outside the Other Washington, the District of Columbia.
I visited the Mall often, and of course, went to the Viet Nam veteran's memorial.
Unlike other memorials to long dead presidents, this one is to the average military person who lost their lives during the war. My cousin is not listed there, he did three combat tours in Viet Nam as a Marine, hosing down the Vietnamese jungles with Agent Orange...which ultimately killed him with cancer.
It is something everyone should see. Unlike the white marble/granite memorials throughout D.C, it is black. It is a solemn, not so much mournful memorial but one that is simple in it's presentation and yet very moving. The names inscribed say it all.
Do not be surprised to see what I did every time I visited that memorial in D.C. grown men on their knees, a hand on the wall, and in some cases, crying.
You might find dogtags, or a memento, left by the battle buddy who didn't die there.
One thing I have noted over the years: with the exception of Joe Biden, I cannot, in my 25 years in the Army, ever recall hearing or meeting a soldier whose family member..a father, for instance, who was a legislator. Not a Congressman, not a senator, not a governor. Their kids are told to stay home. Their kids don't serve. No. It's because the people...like the current president...who start the wars DON'T FIGHT THEM. They purchase medical deferrals exemptions for specious things like 'bone spurs' that to this day don't keep a rich man from playing golf.
I am proud of my service, having two wars under my LBE, and I was lucky was never wounded. But it infuriates me that the legislators and policticians who send us to war don't do so without a thought. We're just...well, cannon fodder.
Go see the memorial. Even if you have no military connections whatsoever, and you will see what war costs in human lives.
Thursday, June 18 Report this
SecondOtter
Because I cannot edit my original post I would like to add this: I meant to say that the bureuacrats and politicians who send us little people to wars DO so without a thought.
Thursday, June 18 Report this