Mobile Vietnam Veterans Memorial now open in Bedford

BEDFORD - The Wall That Heals, a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, is now in Bedford.

It arrived at Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital on Springs Road Wednesday and officially opened to the public early Thursday morning.

"I'm overwhelmed really. The raw emotion that everyone who walks through, someone has a husband, a father, an uncle, they were there," said Laurel Holland who works for the VA Bedford Healthcare System and made it her mission to bring the wall to the facility. "Here's permission for people to talk about those stories locked in their hearts. They're profound. We need to hear them."

The wall bears the names of the 58,281 men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in Vietnam.

Organizers say this is an opportunity to honor and remember those who served our country and to teach people about the war.

The exhibit, which is 375 feet long and seven-a-and-a-half feet high, will be open 24 hours a day. It's free to visit.

"Our inpatient veterans would never see this. They can't go to Washington. So to actually have it here on campus and bring this wall to them is an opportunity to know we get it. We hear their stories," Holland said.

Volunteers like John Rocca will staff the display to make sure it is open at all hours.

"The heroes that are on this wall here, has made it possible for us to live the life we are living right now. I just want to make sure everybody remembers that," Rocca said.

Richard Dumas, who served in the Air Force during Vietnam, was one of the first to stop and view the wall.

"I think this is nice. I think something like that, hopefully the general public will see it and start thinking more about the military," he said.

It will close Sunday, September 25 at 2 p.m.

The wall will then be moved to Potter Field on Pelham Street in Methuen from September 29 through October 2.

For more information on the wall tour, click here.