Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - This summer, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville will host the Vietnam Moving Wall, the traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial, on the UWP campus. The 252-foot wall will be open to the public beginning on Thursday, July 9, and will remain on the campus until noon on Monday, July 13. The monument will be set up in the east parking lot of Williams Fieldhouse. It will be open 24 hours a day to the general public and will be free of charge. The Disabled Veterans of America is sponsoring the event.

The wall is a half-size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. It has been touring the country for over 20 years and has over 58,000 names carved into its surface. Some of these names hold a great personal meaning to Roger Reed, a Vietnam veteran who is currently the UWP custodial lead for the physical plant. Reed has visited the Moving Wall in many different locations, but finally petitioned the Platteville Chamber of Commerce and UWP to have it come to the tri-state area because of the personal value that this monument has to him and other people of the community.

"Bringing the Vietnam Memorial to Southwest Wisconsin means that I can pay tribute to the friends that served with me so many years ago," said Reed. "Some of those names are very close to my heart and welcoming them to my home is like having closure to an experience. The National Vietnam Monument is located in Washington, D.C., and having the traveling wall at UWP will give citizens of the tri-state area the means to pay respect to a friend, neighbor or family member. It will also give many people a chance to visit a beautiful monument."

Reed also believes that the accommodating facilities of the UWP campus will allow the wall to be more accessible to visitors.

"The blacktop of the parking lot will allow for more wheelchair accessibility than other places where the wall was placed on top of grass," said Reed. "It is also an open area that can hold great crowds and many people."

Earlier in the spring semester, students in a surveying class marked a 250-foot outline for the wall and its decorations. The decorations will include a carpet, which will be run along the front of the wall, and shrubbery. A total of 98 flags, each representing a Wisconsin soldier that lost his or her life in Iraq or Afghanistan, will also be placed in front of the wall.

The entire event will be called the Celebration of Heroes. Opening ceremonies will begin on Thursday, July 9 at 6 p.m. On Sunday, July 12, an all-veterans parade beginning at 1 p.m. will be held throughout the city of Platteville. The parade will end at Williams Fieldhouse, where closing ceremonies will begin with a military flyover at 3 p.m. A reception will be held in the Pioneer Student Center on the UWP campus when the closing ceremonies have finished.

The names of 1,150 Wisconsin soldiers, 848 Iowa soldiers and 2,926 soldiers from Illinois are inscribed on the wall. Along with the Moving Wall, a memorial located in Miller Riverview Park in Dubuque, Iowa, called the Tri-State Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also commemorates the tri-state area soldiers that lost their lives in the Vietnam War. This monument was formally dedicated in 1995 and was made possible by donations and the labor of local Vietnam veterans. This monument is also free and open anytime to the general public.

Weather permitting, UWP hopes to see 70,000 to 100,000 people turn out for this event.

For more information about the Moving Vietnam Memorial, contact Reed at (608) 642-2528 or reedr@uwplatt.edu. Anyone interested can also visit the Platteville Chamber of Commerce website at PlattevilleMovingWall.com, or the Tri-State Veterans Association website at tristateveterans.com.