Reflections on The Moving Wall

The Moving Wall, the half-size replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, was in Orange County this weekend. Having only been in DC before the monument was built, it was a great opportunity for me to see it so close to home. Set up in a quiet corner of a large park, it had the somber reverence appropriate for a memorial. I appreciate the double meaning of the name itself, The Moving Wall: not only is it a traveling exhibit, but is also a touching, emotional work of art. The wall itself is an architectural beauty. The shiny black facade, which completely resists fingerprints (I tried), is as clear as a mirror. As you are reading the names of those lost at war, you can see yourself reflected there. There were many personal tributes left at the base of the wall: flowers, pictures, flags, a teddy bear wearing a military uniform, and a few red, white and blue cans of Budweiser.

Volunteers manned computers to assist visitors in finding their loved ones amongst the 58,267 names etched on the wall. Volunteers also roamed around the memorial ready to answer any questions about it. One gentleman explained to me how it starts at the center, the apex, with those killed starting in 1959, and expands out to the right from there until 1968. Then, it starts again at the opposite side, with those killed from 1968 on, and ends back at the apex, in 1975, so everything returns to the center. There are 74 panels, some listing only a handful of names, and some listing thousands, grouped by the dates they died, showing the ebb and flow of war. The symbolism of it is amazing.

There was also an exhibit of items donated by veterans and their families. It included a few jeeps, lots of uniforms, and tons of pictures, medals, and letters. A poem, written by a soldier who came home alone as most of his friends died there, was especially heartbreaking. The city, which has a large Vietnamese population, created a committee in 2009 to build a permanent Vietnam War Museum. With everything on display this past weekend, they are on their way to creating a great museum. I hope they are successful. It is something people need to see. We should never forget how horrible war is, and never stop working to make it something we only read about in history books.