12:00 AM - 12:00 AM
"The Moving Wall" is the half-size replica of the Washington, DC Vietnam Veterans Memorial and has been touring the country for thirty plus years. When John Devitt attended the 1982 dedication in Washington, he felt the positive power of "The Wall." He vowed to share that experience with those who did not have the opportunity to go to Washington. Devitt's idea was deeply personal. He had been out of work when the Wall was dedicated, and had made the trip with financial help from family and friends. "There were millions of people who would never be able to come to Washington," he realized, "I wanted them to be able see and feel what I had." His emotions ran deep. "Before 1982 I never felt like I needed a parade or a memorial," he says. He had come to the Wall expecting to dislike it, anticipating it would be as some media stories had said, "a black gash of shame." Instead, the Wall changed his life; it gave him a new mission and sense of pride in his military service.
Students, in cooperation with faculty and veterans, will act as Visitor Guides at the Moving Wall. We envision their jobs will include helping to make visits more personal, meaningful, and comfortable, assisting visitors find names on The Moving Wall, building the foundation, setting up the wall, and keeping the area clean. However, the most important role the students will play is in assembling the Vietnam veterans who, if willing, will share their memories and personal commentaries about their experiences in Vietnam. The students will video record these oral histories so that they can be transcribed, indexed, and then placed in the school library as a primary resource for student research and historical preservation.