The field of Chambers Prairie Elementary School in Lacey, usually a place of play, is temporarily transformed into a place of grief, reflection and remembrance.
“The Wall that Heals,” a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., arrived in Lacey on Tuesday and will remain open to the public through Sunday, June 28, when volunteers pack it up and send it off to its next destination.
Volunteers assembled the wall in blazing sunshine on Wednesday, but it was rain that greeted the veterans, families and community members who gathered for a “Welcome Home” dedication ceremony Thursday evening.
“I think it means a lot more that it’s raining, because the people, the divisions we’re welcoming home didn’t have the most comfortable passage, so why should we now, when we’re welcoming them home?” said Marine Corps veteran Jorge Castillon, who spearheaded the effort to bring The Wall That Heals to Lacey.
The Wall That Heals has been traveling around the country since 1996 to bring healing and honor to communities, families, and other veterans.
Joined by a need to honor Thurston County’s dead and the high volume of military veterans in the area, Castillion and members of his volunteer committee orchestrated the wall’s visit to Lacey, and the ceremonies surrounding it.
Castillon himself has been trying to speak to every veteran who has come to visit the wall since it opened to the public Wednesday afternoon.
“Every story I hear is amazing. I think I've read four books in the last day and a half just by listening to these stories,” Castillon said.
Among those who paid their respects during the wall’s visit was Lt. Gov. Denny Heck, who spoke at the “Welcome Home” ceremony Thursday evening.
“Thank you to all the service members before, during, and after Vietnam. Thank you all for being here. Thank you all for remembering,” Heck said to the crowd of local veterans, families and community members who gathered at the wall Thursday evening.
Heck relayed the stories of four deceased Vietnam veterans who he had personal connections to.
Two of those veterans, Sgt. Daniel Lloyd Poff and Lt. Daniel Bernard Cheney, died in action overseas. Both were 21.
The third was the boyfriend of one of Heck’s classmates who also died on the front. Heck recalled her breaking down upon sharing the news that her partner had been killed.
Heck has long since lost track of that classmate, but he thinks of her often, he said.
“Has she touched this wall? I hope so,” Heck said.
The last veteran Heck spoke of was his own older brother, Bob, who made it home from the war but died of cancer caused by his exposure to Agent Orange. He was 34.
“He was killed in Vietnam, but he died in America,” Heck said of his brother.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial has become a “touchstone” for Heck along his healing journey.
At both the full-sized memorial in Washington, D.C., and at the traveling replica in different locations, Heck said the wall has given him space to pause and reflect.
“I think about what a sacred space this wall is. I give thanks for having Bob as my big brother and having known the Dans, and I think about their families today, and as I touch the wall, I say to the Dans, and also to my brother Bob, ‘I remember you,’ and I am just a little bit more healed because of it,” Heck said.
Thursday’s ceremony also featured an address by a woman credited with saving hundreds of lives in Vietnam, keeping many names off of the memorial wall: former 67th EVAC Hospital Operating Room Nurse Laura Kern.
Military nurses like Kern are often called “Angels of War,” Castillon said.
“Their bravery, compassion, and ability to bring a sense of humanity, comfort, and hope in the chaos of war have earned them the respect from everybody who have served in combat,” Castillon said.
Kern recalled being 21 years old at the military hospital in Qui Nhon, Vietnam, giving everything she had to make sure that her patients made it home to her families.
“That was our goal, to save a life at all costs. Each life saved was a victory,” Kern said.
Wounded soldiers who made it to a hospital within an hour of being injured had a 96% survival rate. Those who didn’t survive either made it to the hospital too late, or didn’t make it at all.
Kern recalled being shocked to see the sprawling list of names on the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial for the first time in the 1990s.
“All I could say was, I thought we saved them all,” Kern said.
She encouraged those visiting the Wall That Heals in Lacey to remember the fallen and honor the living.
“Tell them that their service mattered, and that it, and they, are not forgotten. Let them heal, hear those healing words: ‘Welcome home. You are remembered. You are honored, and you will never be forgotten,’” Kern said.
The Wall That Heals is open 24-hours-a-day through the morning of Sunday, June 28, and will be host to public tours, community events and several ceremonies throughout its stay.
Visit TheWallThatHealsLaceyWA.org for a full schedule.
To schedule a tour, contact Bob Whitney at whitneybob@icloud.com. A closing ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 28.
