Vietnam Memorial to Temporarily Open at USS Midway

Local Vietnam veterans will get a special opportunity in the next several days to view a temporary memorial at the U.S.S. Midway Museum.

The memorial, called “The Wall that Heals,” is a half-sized replica of the original Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. It stands 125 feet tall and bears 58,300 names.

It will open at 10 a.m. Saturday and be open until 5 p.m. Thursday. Standing at the top of the U.S. Midway Museum deck, it will also have a mobile education center a deck below showing more historical information on the Vietnam War.

The “Wall that Heals” has been traveling 30 to 40 cities a year through the nation for more than a decade. On Friday, veterans on motorcycles rode alongside the memorial as it arrived at the U.S.S. Midway.

Some Vietnam veterans told NBC 7 that they never had the chance to see the memorial in D.C. and believe this memorial will be just as emotional to see.

“It’s going to close some chapters for me,” said veteran Tom Reddecliff. “It’s going to close some chapters for me. I got some friends on the wall and it’s going to be the first time I look at it.”

Fellow veteran Charles Dudley also said the memorial could help bring closure.

“My wife keeps telling me I need to bring closure to this,” he said.

The memorial’s next stop is Omaha, Nebraska.

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